Samsara Broken
by curtainsfall
Summary: Naruto has always wondered what would happen to him when his body finally gives out. Now, a thousand years later, he's still wondering. SasuNaruSasu
1. On the Road Again

(First and only) Disclaimer: Ownership of Naruto is simply a fantasy that probably will never be realized.

Summary: Naruto has always wondered what would happen to Kyuubi when his body finally gave out. Now, a thousand years later, he's still wondering. SasuNaruSasu

Title: Samsara Broken

Author: curtainsfall

Chapter 01 – On the Road Again

"Naruto."

The soft voice accompanied with light taps on his bare shoulder pulled said blond through the last layers of unconsciousness, brushing away the remnants of an already-forgotten dream. Blearily, he opened his eyes to find a dark room. Or maybe that was just Sasuke's head swimming into view.

"Wake up."

Naruto immediately did the opposite and closed his eyes once more as the voice sounded just as tired as he felt. A soft exhaling of breath alerted him to Sasuke's would-be impatience, if not for the fact that the other male also slipped back under the covers. Naruto, still with his eyes closed, sloppily grinned. A grunt near his ear told him the action didn't go unnoticed.

Naruto opened his eyes to slits and surveyed the room; the apartment was sparse and the wallpaper was peeling. The dishes they'd brought with them were cleared and the food they hadn't consumed was thrown out last night. The trash can was empty. Two ramen cups were sitting on the counter, untouched since yesterday afternoon. There was nothing that really made the place feel homey anymore, save for the tousled bed and its occupants. Even the luggage waiting next to the door seemed cold and uninviting.

"Do we have to leave?" Naruto asked softly as he closed his eyes again, wanting desperately for his voice not to have sounded whiny or worse, regretful.

He felt the shifting of the bed as Sasuke's body moved to sit up. Naruto opened his eyes fully and watched the other's profile in the still-dark room. Looking past Sasuke's pale back he tried to focus on the digital clock only to find it wasn't on its usual perch on the table; Naruto realized they'd packed that too.

"It's time we did." Came Sasuke's terse, blunt reply. It was void of emotion, but after all these years, Naruto could pick up on the almost-but-not-quite apologetic tone. Sasuke didn't want to leave almost as much as Naruto did. They were both tired, and more than just in a physical aspect.

Naruto watched Sasuke scoot off of the bed and pad across the carpeted floor, feet barely making any sounds against the rough material. He followed the head of dark hair currently sticking up haphazardly all over the place (but when it wasn't ever, Naruto had to wonder) and the pale skin that stretched over a very lean body. His gaze became riveted to the powerful legs that were moving around the room, semi-content to watch Sasuke gather the rest of their clothing and whatever else they may have dropped due to last night's...activities.

Sasuke turned when he got tired of feeling Naruto's gaze glued to him, facing the unmoving blond with a raised eyebrow and boxer shorts in hand. Naruto dimly noted that the pair in Sasuke's grasp was his own.

What he was more focused on was letting his eyes wander appreciatively over the figure before him as his eyes continued to adjust to the dark and his conscious brain. Sasuke gave a small snort at the obvious leering and folded up the laundry and stuffed them into one of their suitcases. He saw Sasuke's eyes also roam across his figure upon turning around, a small smirk forming when he caught the growing tent in the bedsheets. Naruto grinned. It seemed that they both had a bit of business to take care of before they left.

As Sasuke reached for a random object on the floor near Naruto's side of the bed, his wrist was snagged and tugged. Without a word, he moved to straddle the blond and immediately hissed as their erections met and slid against one another, already hard. Naruto's hands moved to grip Sasuke's shoulders, nails biting into the skin as the other man moved above him. Pale hands gripped tan hips and Sasuke's forehead dipped to rest against Naruto's chest, watching their movements.

If possible, Naruto got even harder.

"Sa...Sasuke..." He panted as hot breath ghosted over his nipple. Sasuke's head snapped up, revealing a spinning Sharingan tinging his normally black eyes. Upon meeting sky blue the wheels slowed their frantic turning and faded, leaving a heady gaze in its wake, but, Naruto had to admit with envy, equally as sexy.

Sasuke's hands moved from Naruto's hips, trailing his fingertips over tan skin, eliciting a breathless gasp from the writhing body. Sasuke resisted the urge to reactivate the Sharingan; even though he wanted every single moan torn from Naruto's lips and every single gyrate of his hips embedded in his mind, he wanted every experience to be like new. He took one last look at their hips rolling against one another and tried to control his breathing; he still had yet to even touch Naruto.

His fingers grasped golden locks and he tugged backwards, exposing Naruto's neck for him to lave. He mouthed the pulse frantically beating at his neck, sucking fiercely and causing Naruto's eyes to flutter shut as another broken version of his name flowed out of his lips. Sasuke didn't stop to admire the newly-formed bruise, instead tilting Naruto's head back down to devour the parted lips.

As their mouths clashed and tongues slid against one another, Naruto's back arched, wanting more contact, more friction, more _anything_ that would stop yet spread the fire already consuming his body. He could feel his chakra flaring unchecked, the inky characters of his seal stark against his tan skin. He removed his hands from Sasuke's shoulders, burying one in his hair and the other on his buttocks, pressing their bodies even closer at the groin.

Sasuke moaned into Naruto's mouth, removing one of his own hands from the mop of hair and slipping it between their bodies. Naruto ripped his mouth away from Sasuke's as the other fisted his arousal, jerking a little too roughly but _ohfuck_ thumbing the leaking slit. Naruto moaned long and loud at that motion, teeth biting into the junction between Sasuke's neck and shoulder, body straining as he came hard in Sasuke's hand.

Even though Sasuke couldn't see Naruto's face, he felt the heat emanating from his body still in the aftershocks of his orgasm, still jerking into his hand and that hand gripping his ass. He could feel those clear blue eyes half lidded and directed his way, coaxing him to also find his release.

"Sasuke..."

That did it. That single, breathless word barely audible was his undoing, and Sasuke loved hearing his name said that way. He gave an almost surprised gasp as he steadied himself and rocked against Naruto, milking his own orgasm and shuddering in release. He panted against sweaty skin as his body stopped trembling and the one beneath him stopped licking at the bite marks on his skin.

Rolling onto the other side of the bed, Sasuke tiredly blinked up at the ceiling, noting with detachment that sunlight was beginning to peek between the curtains and flow into the room. He wondered if Naruto had gone back to sleep but was too lazy at the moment to check.

"Sasuke," came the slightly raspy voice next to his ear. Naruto cleared his throat and judging by the pause, Sasuke figured a faint blush was spreading across Naruto's cheeks. "when are we supposed to leave?"

Sasuke shifted his head a little bit to meet Naruto's gaze. The slight pink dusting Naruto's cheeks proved his assumption correct. "The flight is in three hours."

A pause.

Sasuke grunted as a hard punch was thrown at his shoulder. "Why the hell did we have to wake up so early then?" Was the indignant reply as Naruto half-heartedly glared.

"I took into account anything we'd do before leaving."

The almost nonchalant reply sent another blush creeping up Naruto's cheeks. Sasuke's smugness could be felt permeating the room almost as much as the smell of sex was sinking into the sheets. Before Naruto could come up with a retort, Sasuke stood and headed towards the bathroom, towel and soap in hand.

Even though he knew he should have also gone into the shower to get ready, or at least change the sheets to protect the landlord's eyes, Naruto simply continued to lay down and stare at the ceiling.

Naruto was tired.

-----

As the plane gathered speed and its engines roared to take off, Naruto couldn't help but tense and grip his seat, staring out the window as the world tilted and his ears popped almost painfully. He felt his body being pushed into the cushion as the plane gained altitude. Naruto closed his eyes and tried to block out the sounds and feelings of man-made flight.

A peek at Sasuke made Naruto a little relieved he wasn't the only one to feel anxious about the airplane; pale hands were fisted in a covered lap and his chin was dipped to his chest in meditation. If Naruto strained, he could hear forced, controlled breathing. It seemed that neither of them were used airplanes just yet.

As the plane evened out, Naruto took a few deep breaths and turned to look out his window. The ocean below him was clear and beautiful, but the small plot of land inching further and further from his sight was where Naruto had his eyes riveted. He had only been on a plane twice in his life, and the flight going to Hawaii was much more pleasant than the one leaving it.

"Would you care for a drink, sir?"

The attendant's voice sounded like it was underwater, so Naruto yawned to pop his ears and nodded an affirmative. The pleasant smile stayed on the attendant's face and as a moment of silence stretched, Sasuke snorted. "He's asking for what you want to drink, dumbass." Was the helpful prompt.

After throwing a glare to the man in the next seat, Naruto sent an apologetic smile to the attendant. The nervousness cleared from the young man's face. "Sure, some sprite would be good. And if you have any crackers...?" Naruto requested, trying in futility not to sound as if he was airsick.

A soft snort at his side made Naruto throw a punch and a glare, not at all concerned if the family in the backseat saw them bicker like children. The attendant quickly came back with his order, and Naruto gratefully drank and stuffed his face full of crackers and soda. Halfway through his snack, he saw Sasuke go back into his meditative state, seemingly making a pointed effort to ignore the world and the shifting of the plane beneath their feet.

Figuring that a bitchy, nauseous Sasuke was hardly going to suffice for their trip, Naruto ate one more cracker before lowering Sasuke's food tray and placing the rest of his snack on the plastic surface. Half his soda was still in the cup and there was one more packet of crackers that had escaped the carnage. Yawning again to pop his ears, Naruto stared out the window once more, squinting to find any traces of the small island chain they'd left behind. An endless ocean steadily met his gaze.

-----

Sasuke opened his eyes to slits when he felt Naruto shift around him. He was about to ask what the _hell_ he was doing when he spotted the half cup of soda and packet of wheat crackers on his food tray. The idiot had decided to share.

The tension in his shoulders eased a bit, and Sasuke was grudgingly grateful. The flight was going to be a long one, and Sasuke wanted to spend most of it asleep, not worrying whether the toilet was occupied once his stomach jerked in the wrong direction. With less vigor but equal desire as Naruto, he opened his packet and took a sip of the soda.

He could feel Naruto's smirk radiating from his side, even though he still appeared to be watching the scenery outside the window. Mild annoyance aside, Sasuke continued eating methodically, choosing rather to avoid looking out the window and concentrate on the schedule ahead. Once they arrived in Japan, they probably wouldn't be leaving for another fifty years.

-----

"Ne...Sasuke," Naruto nearly whispered, speaking lowly as the lights dimmed and light snoring could already be heard through the cabin. The sky was already pitch black and Naruto turned from the window to lean over to his companion. There was no response and Sasuke's eyes were closed, but the slight tilt of his head indicated a continuation of Naruto's question. "Do you even remember how to speak Japanese?"

Sasuke slowly lifted an eyelid that seemed to radiate arrogance and amusement. Naruto narrowed his eyes in a silent challenge. He was thousands of feet in the air and grouchy; he'd start a fight if Sasuke said anything remotely condescending.

"Hawaii was full of Asians, Naruto, and many of them were Japanese. Didn't we speak to them on occasion?" Sasuke said smoothly, realigning himself with the comfort of his seat and closing his eyes once more, dismissing the question entirely. Naruto's eye twitched.

Sasuke deftly caught the punch aimed for his already abused shoulder and pulled Naruto forward, pressing their cheeks together and leaning in to his ear. He inhaled slowly, and felt the slight shiver run up the other man's body. Sasuke exhaled hot breath into a tan ear. "Don't worry; we'll be fine."

The words were said with the low timbre of Sasuke's voice, smooth and rich and entirely catching Naruto off guard. While one part of his brain was annoyed that he could still be surprised at Sasuke's actions, another part was wondering if the blood flow currently trickling south was going to stop before embarrassment struck. There were kids in the back!

Naruto could feel a smirk growing on Sasuke's lips, and he nearly jumped when a hot tongue brushed his ear cartilage. The pale hand surrounding his wrist loosened, only to press flat against his abdomen and slowly trail upwards to his chest. A tan hand reached for Sasuke's sweater—whether as a warning or invitation, Naruto wasn't sure.

Naruto let himself be pushed back into the seat, eyes still warily watching his pale friend. Sasuke's smirk softened and Naruto's wariness faded. His smile always had a relaxing effect, and at the moment, it was combined with gentle circles being rubbed into his arms and shoulders. Naruto took a deep breath and sighed contentedly, letting his eyes close and his own hand fall from Sasuke's sleeve to grasp the other, unmoving hand on the seat.

-----

When Sasuke awoke, blond hair was tickling his nose and his arms were tangled up with Naruto's. The picture must've been a sight to behold for the flight attendants who had been walking around, but Sasuke had never been one to care for what others thought. Maybe that woman who kept watching them prior to departing had her fill of eying them up.

Sunlight was softly streaming through the window, highlighting Naruto's hair in gold and what Sasuke could only describe as sparkles, even making his tan skin seemingly glow. The heavy head was resting against his shoulder and although his arms weren't technically wound around Sasuke's, they appeared to have been clutching his hands or shirt for a while at some point, based on the loss of feeling in his hand and his slightly-rumped sweater. Sasuke brought a finger to Naruto's skin and barely touched the scarred cheeks, following the curvature more with his eyes than with physical contact.

The intercom went off above their heads and one of the female attendants alerted the passengers that they'd be landing soon and requesting for them to put up their tray tables and return their seats to the upright position while also turning off their electronics. Sasuke noted his cracker wrapper and empty soda cup had been taken away, so he was able to single-handedly close his tray table without moving the rest of his body that was currently falling asleep due to the dead weight pulling on him.

He could feel the steady rise and fall of Naruto's cloth-covered chest and the puffs of breath escaping from his lips. Sasuke truly wondered whether they had to leave Hawaii so soon; Naruto seemed to enjoy the warm weather and year-around sunlight every morning when they woke up, and the general atmosphere of the entire state helped Naruto fit in incredibly fast and without any problems. Sasuke himself found he could eventually put up with the humid days and mosquitoes preying on every inch of his skin. He was even able to eventually get a tan without burning.

Sasuke sighed. No, it was the right decision to leave; he could see their co-workers beginning to formulate unspoken questions and whisper half-thoughts amongst themselves while casting puzzled expressions their way. Even if Naruto had tried to be oblivious about it, both of them could tell it was time to leave.

Sasuke tensed as the plane began to descend, not hearing the pilot begin their usual speech about landing and the weather they'd be going into. His ears popped for the umpteenth time and Naruto blinked blearily up into his face. Sasuke wasn't sure why they had to go to Japan; they'd have to repeat this experience when they left.

-----

Naruto felt Sasuke tense beneath his head and instinct led him to reach for his kunai before he even fully awoke. He realized there were no weapons strapped to his waist and blinked up at the blob that was currently Sasuke's face, refocusing his tired eyes. Naruto wasn't sure whether he was simply tired or it was the effect of his ears being plugged, but the descending airplane didn't bother him very much. He wordlessly laid his head back against his seat and watched the landmass in his window get larger and larger.

And so it began again.

-----

They'd bought the Nishiazabu apartment a couple years ago in preparation for this day, but nothing completely prepared Naruto for the feeling of stepping out of the cab and gazing up at their new living space. It looked like most of the apartments in the area and when Naruto thought about it, the buildings were a little too close together, but he still found it charming—in that cold, unlived-in, empty kind of way.

Sasuke swung his backpack lightly into the back of Naruto's knee, forcing him forward. He sent a glare behind his back, but nonetheless proceeded through the entrance and up the stairs to the second floor. The paint wasn't peeling and the complex looked like it was obviously well-kept. Naruto began to wonder how different this would be from living in Hawaii.

Sasuke reached to stick the key through the slot, but Naruto's hand stopped the action from consummating. Sasuke sighed and Naruto grinned. He wrapped his hand around Sasuke's and the pale fingers moved a little around the key to accommodate the tan digits. Together, they turned the knob and pushed.

-----

Sasuke groaned as Naruto clenched around his erection, the vice-grip almost sending him over the edge. He stopped and took several deep breaths before pushing in the rest of the way into Naruto's body, all the while hearing his lover's pants and keens in his ear, urging him on. Strong legs wrapped around his waist and heels dug into his back, forcing Sasuke deeper than he'd intended. They both moaned into each other's skin.

"Sasuke...damn...it...move or I'll flip us over," Naruto growled in his ear, arching his back and ripping another groan from Sasuke's throat. He easily complied, pulling out nearly all the way before slamming back into the willing body beneath him. The rhythm was hard and fast, with Naruto writhing in every direction and Sasuke gripping his hips enough to bruise.

While Sasuke lifted the legs higher on his torso and angling his hips, Naruto shifted his body and accepted the new position, immediately releasing a surprised gasp as his prostate was hit dead-on. His nails dug in to Sasuke's hair and pulled the man down for a searing kiss while he squeezed his already tight passage, evoking a none-too-quiet moan from the usually stoic man frantically pounding into him. A pale hand fisted him as lips sucked his neck, jerking him off to the rhythm of his erratic thrusts. Naruto groaned and watched as Sasuke pulled in and out of his body, already straining with the oncoming orgasm.

"Sa...ha..._fuck_," was all Naruto was able to get out before spilling himself into Sasuke's hand and all over their bodies, nearly screaming into Sasuke's mouth. Sasuke, whose eyes had been kept open to capture every moment of Naruto straining under his ministrations, groaned as the other man clenched impossibly tighter around his burning groin and came hard. He felt as if stars were exploding in his head as he continued thrusting erratically into the body beneath him until he was completely empty and exhausted.

A firm hand stroked his chaotic hair, massaging the scalp and easing Sasuke into what he could've easily fallen asleep in, covered in the evidence of their sex or not. He shifted and they both groaned as he separated their bodies, moving to lie next to Naruto. He mentally snorted when he realized they hadn't even taken off the outer covering on the bed.

The room was quiet save for their breathing. Sasuke felt Naruto's thumb rubbing circles into his hand, further encouraging him to fall asleep. However, that usually meant Naruto had something to say.

"What is it?" He asked quietly, willing himself to open his eyes and look to the side. Naruto's softened expression met his.

"Will we ever be fine?" Came the even quieter response. Sasuke realized Naruto was speaking in relation to what he'd said on the airplane.

Sasuke turned back to stare at the ceiling, seriously considering Naruto's question. He could admit to being gruff and cold to Naruto unknowingly at times, and made it a point to be a bastard to everyone else at most times, but never did Sasuke make it a mission to lie to his long-time friend and lover. Even in comfort and make-up sex, Sasuke hated trying to avoid the truth to spare Naruto's feelings. He considered it beneath both of them and it never worked anyways.

"Yes." Sasuke said simply, turning onto his side and reaching out his hand once more to trace the scars on Naruto's cheeks. This time, he touched each one before cupping the soft face currently at its barest. In those bright, worn eyes he could see indecision and almost-fear swirling as fast as his Sharingan in the heat of battle. He closed his lips around Naruto's, watching as those eyes were covered with lids that hid away what Sasuke hated to see. He closed his own eyes, hoping his affirmation sounded more confident than he actually felt.

-----

Iruka quietly walked through the automatic doors of the hospital and breathed in the sharp night air. He checked his watch to confirm how tired he felt—twelve midnight on the nose. It was early for him tonight, but he didn't feel like sitting around doing nothing until he had to go back to work. Sometimes he just felt like laying around in bed all day and pretending nothing else existed but the warm sheets still faint with the smell of his detergent.

Taking out his untouched pack of cigarettes, he fumbled with the lighter in his pocket and proceeded walking down the sidewalk toward his apartment. He frowned at the stick of poison, wondering what the _hell_ he was doing before lighting up. He immediately had a coughing fit upon inhaling, grumbling to himself while stomping out the offending stick. He'd been crazy to buy them in the first place, thinking they'd do something for his nerves and shut those other guys up at the station.

Quietly, Iruka continued down the road, side-stepping the stray cats and prostitutes along the way. He decided to cut through his usual shortcut in order to avoid the 24-hour coffee and donut shop some of the guys went to after work. Usually they roped him in to stare at the waitresses all night and morning until they all got kicked out. He just wanted to get home and sleep for the rest of his morning. He glanced at his watch. 12:15AM.

There was a whoosh of _something_ and Iruka wasn't sure where it was coming from. His instincts usually served him right, yet nothing usually happened to him on his walk back home. He looked around and reached for his firearm stuffed in the back of his shirt, waiting for someone to materialize out of the darkness.

And then he saw it.

Like a twinkling star in the midnight sky, a head of blond was falling from the top of a building, arms and legs not at all flailing, but _relaxed_ and _whatTHEHELL_--there was a flare of something red and translucent emanating from his body. It was faint and Iruka rubbed his eyes to determine if he was imagining it or not. The next time he opened his eyes, the falling body was gone and there was a sickening thud on the pavement.

Iruka shoved his gun back underneath his jacket and rushed in the direction of the foreigner who'd fallen (or was he pushed? high on something?) from a three story building. Trees and cars were blocking his view so he couldn't see the entire length of the guy's fall, but there had been _something_ weird about it.

He rushed past the foliage and bushes, jumping over those damn cats and crashing into a parked car that was dark and in Iruka's blind spot. The alarm went off, but all he could see was a lifeless body on the pavement, blood pooling underneath a blond head. Iruka collapsed onto his knees and checked for a pulse_._

_Weak._

He flipped out his cell phone and quickly dialed for an ambulance, checking the man's neck and body for anything broken. There actually didn't seem to be anything wrong with him, save for the blood still spreading across the pavement. Iruka furrowed his brows. The blond didn't seem older than twenty-five; he could've been another jumper. He quickly sent instructions to the paramedics and hung up his phone, looking around to see if there was anyone who knew the kid. The car in the back was still blaring its alarm, and curious onlookers were peeking through the curtains of their bedroom windows.

Iruka looked up when he saw lights go on in the apartment in front of him, atop which the kid jumped from (whether or not he really jumped, he'd figure that out later). He was startled to find a wide-eyed brunette staring back at him from the second floor. Iruka opened his mouth to yell for help when the blond stirred. Iruka whipped his head back to begin asking questions when the brunette suddenly appeared at his side, scraping his knees against the pavement as he settled down beside the blond.

"Naruto! Naruto, what the hell did you do?!" Was what Iruka caught from the brunette's thick voice, just roused from sleep, apparently.

"Is this your friend?" Iruka tried to ask calmly, hearing the ambulance in the distance as the brunette nodded distractedly. His pale hands were frozen above the blond, as if not knowing what to do. The brunette looked like he was completely in shock. Iruka didn't know what to do, so he stood and signaled to the ambulance.

Sometimes, Iruka really hated his job.

-----

There was a rush of lights and uniforms that swooped in and transported the unconscious blond to the hospital, leaving Iruka rooted to his spot on the sidewalk. The brunette had disappeared with the jumper and the car alarm was finally turned off, but curious onlookers continued to stare at him. All Iruka could concentrate on was the pool of blood still at his feet and the wet stains in his pants, eyes not really seeing but still staring in contemplation. He wasn't sure what to do.

Option one was to follow the ambulance back to the hospital and question the kid (or the brunette, if the kid died). Iruka didn't really want to involve himself in another suicide-attempt case. He'd learned long ago the effects of getting too close to those kinds of people—or at least, people in general.

Option two was to simply try and block out the image of the falling body from his mind and continue on home, at which point he could shower, eat, drink himself to sleep, or all of the above. The option was tempting, but he could already feel the call from the station vibrating in his pocket, probably his supervisor asking him what happened and to investigate.

Iruka sighed and reached into his pocket. Upon flexing his fingers to reach for the vibrating phone, he realized there was blood dried on his hands. _Great._

-----

"No broken bones. No internal damage. Barely any external damage. The kid's a miracle on two legs and if it'd been anyone else..." The doctor's voice faded into the back of Iruka's mind as he looked past his shoulder and toward the curtained bed. He could see the faint outline of the brunette's shadow sitting beside the unmoving blob on the starchy sheets, both unmoving.

"Did you get their names? IDs?" Iruka interrupted without thinking, quickly apologizing and urging the doctor to continue.

Papers rustled as the doctor flipped through his folder. "An Uzumaki Naruto. That's what the friend told us his name was. Other than that, he was tight-lipped and otherwise not concentrating on what we were asking him. He still seems very traumatized that his friend possibly jumped from the building."

_Or he's more traumatized that Uzumaki survived._

Iruka caught himself as he thought out his cynical conclusion. He was suspicious, yes, but he had yet to even talk to the brunette about what had happened. "Did you get the friend's name?"

"No. He won't even give us an insurance carrier or anything. All he gave us was the kid's name." By the sound of the doctor's voice, he'd been more than a little annoyed at the friend's disinclination to help. It only furthered Iruka's suspicions. "Did you want to talk to him yourself?"

There was more meaning to that question than its face-value.

Iruka looked back sharply to meet the doctor's eyes. It was the same one who had been taking care of the patient from his last case. The case that was still laying in a coma four floors below their feet.

"Asuma wants me to investigate and report back later." Was Iruka's terse reply. He hoped his voice wasn't as shaky has his mind.

The doctor—Iruka only knew his last name to be Lysander and he wanted to keep it that way—cast him one last, dubious glance before exiting. The room was divided for two patients, and the other was staring straight at him. The hairs on his neck stood and he looked away almost uncomfortably, trying instead to focus on the two men behind the curtain. He would've rather gone home and drank himself to sleep, dinner and shower be damned.

-----

Sasuke could hear the murmurs behind him and the feel of the policeman's eyes staring at him through the curtain. He sat, unmoving, watching Naruto's chest rise and fall, feeling confusion and irritation replace his initial shock.

_Why is Iruka here?_ Was the constant question plaguing his mind ever since he'd seen the man kneeling beside Naruto. Something felt wrong, and the sooner Naruto woke up, the faster they could leave and figure this thing out.

Iruka wasn't supposed to be the one to find Naruto.

Sasuke's annoyance also grew as he watched Naruto's wounds heal before his eyes, yet the blond refused to open his eyes. He'd seen the flare of chakra pillow Naruto's fall, and the doctors claimed he'd been miraculously healed. He'd never stayed asleep so long before. _Dumbass._

The curtain was drawn and a pregnant silence commenced. Sasuke didn't bother turning to acknowledge Iruka. Rather, his irritation grew.

-----

Iruka sighed as the brunette continued to sit in icy silence. He was difficult to read, as his face was impassive and only gave away a irritated-sort of glare at nothing in particular. Although, Iruka had a feeling it was directed at him.

"Well I'll go ahead and introduce myself. Umino Iruka. I'm a detective down at the Azabu police station, about a block from the apartment where...this incident occurred." Iruka stumbled slightly through the last part, not entirely sure how the brunette felt about the situation. He continued to sit as though he hadn't heard a word.

"I'm sure you're still in shock as to what's happened and how your friend has healed so fast, but I'd like to investigate what exactly went on and would appreciate your cooperation." Iruka continued, hoping the young man would at least acknowledge their conversation. Even if he was still in shock, he could've at least looked up or nodded or something.

Another round of silence ensued and Iruka could feel the other patient's eyes boring a hole through the curtain. He hadn't slept for nearly a day and the stubborn friend was beginning to get on his nerves. He was about to speak when he was cut off.

"I've given the doctors all they need to know."

The voice was much more controlled than the surprised gasps he'd heard a half hour ago, but it sounded strained as well, as if holding in anger or confusion...maybe both. Iruka tried to get a look at his face, but moving around the youth to simply stare at him would've probably made things even worse. Still, he knew something was wrong when a kid falls three stories to survive and appear as if nothing was wrong while his friend wouldn't give any information pertaining to either of them.

"All you've given is your friend's name--"

"--And that's all you need to know."

Iruka felt irritation swell in his gut. He had the distinct urge to punch the brunette and haul him in to the station, but he clenched his fists and tried to calm his voice. "The medical bill won't be affordable without insurance and whether you like it or not, the police will find out the information--"

"--Then find it."

Iruka sighed in both annoyance and in an attempt to calm himself down again. The kid's arrogance was not new to Iruka, but it still got under his skin. "I'm not sure if you understand the situation; your friend may have been pushed off a building and nearly _died. _I would want someone to investigate this if I had nothing to hide." Iruka hinted at the brunette, trying to at least get him to turn around so he could see his face. Iruka was hoping for some sort of reaction, but his shoulders didn't even tense and he continued to sit motionless, staring at the blond.

There was another stretch of silence. Iruka wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but the brunette gave no indication and his patience was quickly running dry. "Think about it. I'll be back later."

Iruka disappeared behind the curtain again, ignored the other patient's unblinking stare, and walked out of the room. He leaned against the heavy wood, rubbing the bridge of his nose where the faint scar ran across his skin. He'd find out more when the Uzumaki kid woke up. In the meantime, he might as well visit the coma patient since he was at the hospital. It'd be the second time tonight, and as Iruka walked toward the elevator to head downstairs, he considered staying for the rest of the night.

Kakashi might get lonely.

-----

When Naruto awoke, a cold hand was stretched over his mouth and dark eyes were boring into his own. He furrowed his eyebrows and gave a slight nod, indicating he understood the request (more like the demand) to be silent.

Sasuke sat back in his seat beside the bed, crossing his arms and continuing to stare intently at him with as much strength as he could with his hair still messy and thin shirt barely keeping his body warm. Naruto flipped open his bed covers in silent invitation. Sasuke didn't seem to notice and continued to stare at him, eyes barely focusing on blue. Naruto cocked his head to the side, wondering what the other was doing.

His eyes widened when he realized Sasuke was trying to sense chakra.

"What--"

"Did you know?"

Sasuke cut Naruto off and stood, uncrossing his arms and staring through the curtain in the direction (Naruto presumed) of the door. Sasuke's hushed tone barely reached Naruto's ears. "Know about what?"

"That he's here."

Naruto's slightly fuzzy mind ran the uphill battle of trying to process what Sasuke was saying. He could pick up on the hushed urgency of Sasuke's voice and the man was all but on high alert like he was incognito behind enemy lines. Naruto stared at him, trying to figure out what had Sasuke so riled up.

The last thing Naruto remembered before waking up under starchy sheets was the feel of Sasuke's lips pressed tightly to his and a whispered reassurance that Naruto didn't even catch since the wind was blowing in their faces. Then air whistling through his ears and just falling...

"...never thought something like this would happen." Sasuke's voice broke through Naruto's reverie and the newly forming headache between his eyes.

"What was that?" He asked groggily, blinking tiredly as he laid back down onto his pillow. It smelled faintly like bleach and detergent.

"Are you listening?" Sasuke's impatience was beginning to irritate Naruto, and before he could come up with a snide retort, Sasuke cut him off again. "_Iruka _is here."

Naruto shot up in his seat and instantly regretted it, as his headache became a throbbing mess. He hissed in pain and grabbed his scalp, trying to massage the pain away. It didn't work, but Sasuke's chilly fingers sifted through his head and swatted his own clumsy ones away, gently rubbing circles into his cranium. Sasuke's voice sounded muffled or underwater; either that or Naruto was going to faint. Both scenarios didn't sound good.

"Wait," Naruto interrupted whatever Sasuke was saying and took hold of the hands on his head, halting his soothing remedy and resisting the urge to fall back asleep. "Iruka-sensei is _here_? In this hospital? In this...time?" Naruto opened his eyes to find Sasuke's face inches from his own. Naruto didn't hear him climb onto the bed and was slightly startled. With their faces so close, he could see every twitch of Sasuke's face as irritation spread across.

"_Yes_, he is. Now what are we going to do about it?" Sasuke repeated himself, extracting his hands from Naruto's hair and crossing his arms in front of his chest. Naruto noted inappropriately that Sasuke's nipples were slightly erect from the cold.

Naruto shook his head free of the thoughts traveling down that road and instead focused on the words coming out of Sasuke's mouth. Ignoring whatever the other was saying, Naruto withdrew into himself and tried to sense for chakra, something, he mildly noted, he hadn't done in years.

Naruto couldn't remember the last time he was surprised: Iruka's wasn't the only one he felt.

-----

Sasuke was growing both frustrated and pissed off that Naruto wasn't listening to a single word he'd been saying since he woke up. Granted, just waking up from a three-story fall probably left a nasty headache from the concussion, which was the only thing restraining Sasuke from lunging at the other man and beating him to a pulp.

He saw Naruto focus and bring his mind to a calmer state, searching for chakra. Sasuke was prepared for Naruto to be surprised at finding more than one chakra signature, but he wasn't prepared to handle being barreled down and having the wind knocked out of him as he fell off the bed.

The next time he looked up, a mop of blond hair was darting out the door, Sasuke assumed, toward where he thought Iruka would be.

_Damnit._

Sasuke wasted no time darting after Naruto, just catching the flash of gold round the corner and down the emergency stairs, bare feet slapping against the cement. Sasuke barley restrained himself from yelling at the man to stop and think about the repercussions of what he was about to do, but Sasuke knew from experience how little the effect in deterring Naruto would be. If Sasuke could get there in time, he might be able to stop Naruto from all but throwing away their carefully laid out plan.

Catching the door Naruto just ran through, Sasuke felt the lingering traces of chakra smeared around the entire area as if Naruto was a genin again and couldn't control his power. Sasuke didn't mind so much, seeing as how he himself hadn't cared too much to mask his presence nowadays, but he could feel the chakra intensity growing with each step. He wondered why Naruto's chakra was flaring so erratically; he could feel the heat almost burning through the floor in Naruto's wake.

Sasuke could finally see Naruto, stopped outside a door and somewhat winded, fingers twitching to turn the knob. He could feel Naruto's chakra flaring all around him in wisps and begging to form the first tail, and upon further inspection he could see beads of sweat forming on Naruto's forehead, not because of exerting himself like Sasuke had originally thought, but because he was trying to control the monster within him.

-----

Naruto couldn't remember the last time he had such poor chakra control. Perhaps it'd been in his _much_ younger genin days, but those memories were fuzzy to him now and all he could think about was how his skin felt aflame and how he was barely resisting the Kyuubi's chakra from consuming his entire body. He could feel Sasuke's own chakra, cool and icy like his demeanor, approaching and trying to force back the fire enveloping Naruto's mind.

He couldn't blink without his eyelids feeling like they were burning off, and any tears that wanted to escape quickly evaporated. People were milling about him, paying neither of the young men any mind as they went about their business. Naruto felt like he was dying, yet he'd never felt more alive. It wasn't a new feeling, but something he hadn't experienced in a very long time.

Naruto felt Sasuke's hand, no longer chilly but hot and searing like the rest of his body, rest on his shoulder as he tried to reign himself in. Naruto panted heavily with exertion, still confused as to why he couldn't control Kyuubi's chakra basically overriding his own and expelling itself. It felt like his skin was going to melt off (not that it hadn't happened before, but Naruto wasn't about to volunteer the experience to relive itself).

Sasuke, always a stable point of reference for Naruto, now couldn't help him as he opened his mouth in a silent scream and gripped his head as another wave of intense energy was expelled out of every pore of his body. His knees gave out and Sasuke barely had time to catch him and clumsily lower him to the floor. Naruto closed his eyes to block out what felt like flames consuming him from the inside out. The next time he opened them, he saw everything tinged red with blood or fire, he couldn't tell which. Whichever case it was, it was painful.

Naruto could only see one thing. He reached for the doorknob, fingernails now claws and scratching the metal and wood, nearly tearing the door off its hinges. It swung open and seemed to be a target for whoever was in the room, spilling itself from Naruto's trembling frame and consuming whatever he saw.

He heard screaming. He couldn't feel anything. He was dimly aware that Sasuke was trying to talk to him while gripping his arms, but Naruto couldn't hear anything over the screams.

-----

Sasuke had no idea what was wrong with Naruto, so trying to help would probably make things worse. One minute the blond was standing, pulling himself together, and the next he was bursting into a hospital room, screaming and releasing so much energy he could've killed everyone in the hospital had it been packed in a rasengan. Sasuke himself felt as if he'd been punched in the gut and winded. He tried to hold Naruto's arms together while calmly speaking into his ear, but the idiot just kept screaming and thrashing wildly outside the room.

Sasuke could feel the explosion of chakra finally weakening, leaving in its wake a collapsed Naruto and a crowd of nurses, curious onlookers, and a couple of doctors. Sasuke scanned the room and locked eyes with Iruka for the second time that night; it was funny how both times centered around Naruto nearly dying--funny in a humorless sort of way.

Medical personal filed in, beginning to check Naruto's vitals and ushering Sasuke to let them take him into emergency care. The onlookers slowly dispersed, leaving a bewildered Iruka in the room. Sasuke turned to look back before closing the door, noting how the room looked wind-blown and Iruka was trying to fix the stray strands of hair that looked as if he'd been in a typhoon. Sasuke took one last look around the room and schooled his expression to give nothing away, even the surprise he felt jumping in his gut when he glanced at the lump in the bed Iruka was sitting at.

Without a word, he exited the room.

-----

Iruka had no idea what had just happened, and he wasn't exactly keen on finding out, but the Uzumaki kid was obviously up and about, looking quite healthy (save for his sanity) for someone who'd just jumped (or was it pushed?) off a building.

Something bothered him though. When the young man burst into the room, there was that flare of something red again, like what he thought he saw when the body was falling. He couldn't feel it then since he was so far away, but he was quite close to the door now and upon bursting in, Iruka felt a heatwave pass over him and a tornado-like wind blow through the entire room. That red flare of whatever it was washed over him and left him feeling heavy and winded, like he was being crushed from the inside out.

It was disorienting and he felt like vomiting, but once he gained his equilibrium again, the brunette was staring at him again, as if assessing what had happened. Iruka recognized the expression as one he and his comrades wore when they investigated a crime scene. It was cool and calculating, with no emotion shown and no judgment passed. It was objective and made Iruka feel less than human. Though he resented it, the young man quickly exited the room without a sound, taking with him the last remnants of whatever that weird energy-thing was. Iruka shook his head as if trying to shake off the lingering remnants.

Something shifted.

Iruka was surprised and thought for a moment that it must've been himself moving about, but something definitely moved again. His hands were tangled in his hair, trying to re-tie it, and his feet were flat on the ground, unmoving.

"Iruka...?" Came a raspy voice under the covers from a barely-moving mouth. Iruka stared into the sheets, hands still fisting his hair and rubber band still poised in mid-motion. His mouth went dry.

Coma Patient Hatake Kakashi was awake.

End Chapter 1

Author's Note: This first chapter was meant to be confusing and mysterious (maybe even boring), even if someone's already figured out the plot. Each piece of information, even if it is boring, may/may not be relevant to the entire development of the fic.


	2. Setting the Scene

Summary: Naruto has always wondered what would happen to Kyuubi when his body finally gave out. Now, a thousand years later, he's still wondering. SasuNaruSasu  
Title: Samsara Broken  
Author: curtainsfall

Chapter 02 – Setting the Scene

By the time Naruto calmed and the Kyuubi's energy wasn't pouring out of his body, he was hooked up to several different tubes and machines, all beeping annoyingly. Sasuke was sitting at the foot of the bed in the ICU unit, once again motionless and staring at Naruto without really looking at him. The nurses finally left them alone and the doctors finally walked off after retrieving the one who was supposed to be taking care of him.

Sasuke couldn't remember his name, but that was the least of his worries as he continued staring straight at Naruto, trying to read every twitch of his face while ignoring anything the doctor was saying.

He was unsuccessful, however, as the doctor—Sasuke noted he was some kind of foreigner—began waving a hand directly in front of his face. Sasuke's irritation was mounting and had been since Naruto woke up; he'd yet to placate it.

"What is it?" Sasuke all but growled, lips twitching into a scowl and throwing a glare directed at the doctor. He'd been formulating an escape plan and was just about to consider whether or not he and Naruto would have to kill anyone to cover this mess up—whatever mess this was becoming.

"Your friend is obviously unstable and needs some real psychiatric help!" The doctor's concerned face and wide, brown eyes came a little too close for Sasuke's comfort. He instinctively drew his eyebrows in and deepened his glare. The doctor looked startled for a moment and leaned back as if trying to escape the warning signs emitted from the young brunette. Sasuke caught a glimpse of the name tag: Lysander, M.D. "He jumped off a roof and just ran down several flights of stairs, aggravating his concussion and is now running a fever! If you care about your friend at all, keep him in bed and tell a nurse if he suddenly jumps out and starts screaming!"

Sasuke's silence made the doctor throw his arms up in frustration and begin a tirade of dark mutterings, at which point Sasuke tuned him out once again and focused on his plan. Lysander was young and easy to rile up; he reminded Sasuke of Naruto.

Or at least, how Naruto used to be.

-----

It hadn't been that long since Naruto last thought of Iruka. It was the day or two before they left Hawaii. He was making ramen for lunch as Sasuke was packing the rest of their things, loading their meager belongings into a few boxes and suitcases. His pale hands stopped over their old headbands, emblazoned with the Konoha leaf, seemingly lost in thought. Naruto wondered at the lack of rustling and bubble wrap-popping and looked over, catching the glint of the sunlight on the metal. They'd worked hard to make sure it didn't rust, so that some part of their former lives could be preserved—taken care of. Sasuke had always scoffed at Naruto's sentimentality, but Sasuke himself was the one who handled their headbands with surprising reverence. At times like these, Naruto caught Sasuke's eyes clouded over and shimmering in the midday sun.

The memories were almost as faded as the material surrounding their headbands; they'd long ago given up trying to replace the fabric when neither of them wore it anymore. Or rather, there was no reason to wear headbands when they weren't living amongst ninjas. When they first left Konohagakure, Naruto would always trace the pattern on his headband, staring at it in remembrance of his friends—the family they'd had to leave behind. Now, he was ashamed to admit, he rarely even looked at his headband anymore.

But every time he thought about his friends, he remembered his last day spent with each of them. How he had tried to be so optimistic so that they could be at peace and not worry about him. How he had tried to crack a joke or two to lighten the tension. How he had watched the light fade from their eyes.

Iruka was the most difficult person to say goodbye to out of everyone. It wasn't even much of a goodbye, really. Naruto had bolted before he could really properly embrace his first teacher, tears streaming down his face and legs blindly leading him to anywhere but Iruka's kind face and warm reassurances that were more genuine and real than Naruto could ever muster up. It was perhaps the one thing Naruto ever regretted.

When Naruto was snapped out of his reverie by Sasuke taking hold of the kettle boiling over and helping him fill up their ramen cups, he realized he'd been burned by steam and tears were leaking out of his eyes at a quietly steady pace. Without a word, Sasuke gently took his hand and placed it under the faucet, letting cool liquid soothe his skin even as the wound healed on its own. He let the faucet run and Naruto didn't bother removing his hand; they just stood there as Naruto fought to gain hold of himself.

He couldn't stop the tears, though, and while a part of his pride was hurt, the pain resurfacing in his chest overrode any loss of manliness. Emotions he thought he'd buried were climbing up through his throat until he felt like he was going to vomit, and a wetness on his arm indicated that Sasuke didn't mind one bit.

They left the ramen on the counter and spent the rest of the day in the bedroom.

---

Slowly, Naruto trudged his way through sleep and opened his eyes to a dimly-lit room. He could hear faint beeping and tubes wrapped around his arm and hand. He was dimly aware that oxygen was being pumped into his nostrils, making him want to sneeze, and a warm hand—presumably Sasuke's—resting next to his own on the bed.

"Finally," Sasuke said quietly, sighing in suppressed impatience. "are you ready?"

Naruto blinked tiredly as he tried to turn his head toward Sasuke. He managed with less difficulty than earlier, but he could feel the remnants of a headache lingering. He closed his eyes and flopped an arm over his forehead. Naruto felt completely drained.

"How long have I been out?"

The chair squeaked as Sasuke shifted. "An hour."

Naruto sighed. This wasn't according to their usual plan, but Naruto had yet to muster up enough energy to blink, let alone care very much. In the past hour, he was sure Sasuke had come up with something they could fall back on. He seemed calmer at least.

"Naruto."

Sasuke removed the arm that was covering his and watched as blue eyes—Sasuke was relieved they weren't red or purple—refocused on his face. He felt for the earlier fever—gone. Naruto's pulse—normal. Naruto remained unmoving on the bed, allowing Sasuke's smooth fingers to work efficiently over his head. They felt cool on his skin, almost cold as Naruto realized Sasuke was still wearing that thin shirt from earlier.

"Are you going to put another shirt—"

"Don't talk."

Naruto raised his eyebrow as Sasuke, yet again, cut him off and continued to check his head as if he was a doctor. He wasn't sure what Sasuke was looking for; he was just frowning. Naruto was about to ask what he was doing when he felt chakra—gently and steadily—flowing from Sasuke's hands and surrounding Naruto's head. The last of his headache disappeared.

"Eh...so you have been practicing." Naruto grinned cheekily, sitting up and arranging the pillows so that he could lean against them. Sasuke snorted and retook his seat, shrugging.

"We have more important things to talk about."

Naruto never understood why Sasuke always had to turn a comfortable conversation into a tense one. He was so no-nonsense in these situations it almost drove Naruto crazy. Nevertheless, he gestured for the other to continue. "I suppose there's a new plan?"

"More like some adjustments to the old one."

-----

Iruka was hyperventilating. It'd been two months and a day since Hatake Kakashi slipped into a coma after being shot in the chest during the hostage situation that was still talked about by the community.

Two very long months.

"Iruka...?" Kakashi's voice was less raspy as he repeated the name, licking his lips and straining to focus his single eye. Iruka mechanically turned to face the prone figure, unconsciously also licking his lips.

"Kakashi," the name came out of his mouth with a slight tremor, but otherwise a lot steadier than Iruka thought it would. "how are you feeling?"

The side of the man's mouth turned upward and the corner of his eye crinkled in humor, as if nothing was wrong and Iruka was spending another morning trying to wake him up.

"Kind of tired. My limbs are absolutely refusing to move." Kakashi said light-heartedly, grunting as if acting out his words; his body was slow indeed to respond to his commands, if at all. Iruka could see his pinky begin to twitch.

Fighting the urge to pass out, Iruka shakily grasped the remote on the bedside table and punched the red key, alerting any and all nurses to haul ass into the room.

-----

When Sasuke finally got the tubing out of Naruto's arm without ripping anything else he didn't want out and stifling any loud complaints from the rambunctious blond, he was growing tired and felt the last of his adrenaline fade. He glanced at the clock in the room: 3AM. He sighed and rubbed at his tired eyes, feeling his limbs grow heavy.

"Let's go." He said softly while opening his eyes, seeing a silent nod of response from Naruto. His clothes were nowhere to be found, so the hospital gown would suffice until they could get back to the apartment. Barefoot and still exuding sun-bright smiles, Naruto was a ridiculous sight to behold. Sasuke wondered if they really were crazy.

With a raised eyebrow and an "are you serious?," Sasuke watched as Naruto darted out the window, feet spurred on by chakra as he took to the rooftops, hospital curtains fluttering in the chilly wind in Naruto's wake, silently challenging him to follow. Sasuke scoffed and couldn't help but be reminded of days long past when they were children and rivals.

It was difficult to recall those days sometimes, and Sasuke wasn't sure if he even wanted them in his memories anymore. They were so faded to the point of simply being pictures in his head, but looking at Naruto when he was nostalgic or when he was near the point of painful remembering, Sasuke remembered all too clearly the days when they could simply be rivals and looked forward to growing up. Now, whenever Sasuke looked into Naruto's eyes, he could only see remnants of that once vibrant being, struggling to make it through another day.

If he was honest with himself, Sasuke was scared that Naruto saw the same thing in his eyes.

Leaping out of the window, Sasuke let his thoughts fade and chakra flow through his legs, exerting twice as much energy to both keep him awake and to catch up with Naruto. The hospital gown was distant, but the strings holding the back together were fluttering, some untied and probably very troublesome for the sprinting blond.

Sasuke didn't mind too much; it gave him a nice view of Naruto's rear.

-----

Iruka was leaning against the coffee machine down the hall from Kakashi's room, head bowed and eyes closed as hot liquid flowed in a steady stream into the paper cup. With a lurch, the cream and sugar were added. He sighed, rubbing his eyes. When was the last time he slept?

Before Iruka could think about it, someone was tapping his shoulder and his coffee was ready. Taking a sip and turning, he made a face at the cup and was startled to find Dr. Lysander's face so close to his; the fact that it was pale gave Iruka no comfort.

"U-um...how is he?" Iruka gasped around the thick taste on his tongue, throwing the cup away and trying to reign in all the thoughts swirling in his head.

"Hatake-san is doing remarkably well for someone who just came out of a coma," Lysander began, drawing in a deep breath and running pale fingers through dark brown tresses. He looked absolutely worn and haggard. "Rather, he seems completely fine. He's up and about, walking a bit, and cracking jokes at the nurses and other patients. I've never seen anything like this...it's just one bewildering case after another..." His voice trailed off as he took Iruka's perch against the coffee machine, continuing a conversation Iruka couldn't catch. He was starting to feel sorry for the guy.

"...well you should go see him, in any case. He's been asking for you since you left."

Iruka flinched, now wishing he kept that coffee cup so he'd have something to distract himself with. He wasn't sure if he could face Kakashi; it felt like they were strangers again. Perhaps it was Iruka's guilt surfacing.

"Yes, I think I'll do that," was all he managed before throwing a polite smile and bow over his shoulder and leaving the doctor to continue his lone conversation. Iruka stepped slowly down the hall, trying to pull himself together and rationalizing with himself that his footsteps were _not_ echoing and everyone was _not_ looking at him. Kakashi had been moved from his "coma room," as Iruka referred to it, to one of the regular hospital rooms on the upper floors after waking, giving Iruka some time to think as he rode up the elevator.

Two months...that's how long it'd been the last time Iruka saw Kakashi open his eye in a responsive manner, and how long it'd been since Iruka heard his voice. It felt like so much longer, and for Kakashi it probably just felt like a night or two of sleeping.

What would he say? What _could_ he say? Iruka felt his guilt forming beads of sweat along his hairline. Maybe Kakashi had no recollection of what'd happened? But that would soon be rectified; the nurses, or at least the doctor would've told him why _exactly_ he was in a hospital.

_Your friend almost got you killed._

Iruka clenched his eyes shut and almost missed the _ding_ of the elevator letting him off. He took a deep breath and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, trying to go over in his head the conversation he'd prepared for this day. He'd worked on it since Kakashi was admitted, but was beginning to think he'd never need to say it at all.

"Kakashi, I know we had our differences and our departments barely worked together, but please don't take the incident as one of premeditation or malicious intent..."

Iruka sighed. It sounded too formal and like he was making excuses. It sounded better in his head, and he and Kakashi were far past the point of being formal with one another.

"Kakashi..."

"Hm?"

Iruka nearly jumped out of his skin when a silver head of hair rounded the corner and a familiar, upturned lip greeted him. He was still wearing a hospital gown and was walking with a cane, but otherwise looked healthy. Even the tubing was taken out of his arm.

"Uh...well...I-I wanted to say that..." Iruka wanted to look away and run, but his legs were shaking and Kakashi was patiently standing there, softly smiling with an expression Iruka hadn't seen in such a long time and looking, well, not angry at all.

"Iruka."

His voice was smooth, just as it was two months ago. Even through the gunfire, blood, and other voices yelling for a medic, Iruka clearly remembered Kakashi saying his name, almost in the exact same way. Iruka felt his vision blur and tilt as he finally broke eye contact, chest heaving as he fought back tears. He was just about to pull himself together when Kakashi appeared right in front of him and placed his hand on Iruka's shoulder. He felt his tension fade and was relieved that the fingers were warm, not cold and lifeless as they had been as of late.

"Did we catch the bastard?" Kakashi asked light-heartedly, laughing a little as he turned around and gently prodded Iruka forward, back to the room.

"Ah...yea...he ended up being shot and...didn't make it," Iruka said distractedly, looking anywhere but in Kakashi's direction and wondering whether he was being led to the slaughterhouse. "The case has...was closed...after..." Iruka wasn't sure what he was saying anymore.

"After I went into a coma?" Kakashi finished the sentence, voice still light and unreadable.

Iruka stopped at the threshold, prompting Kakashi to also halt, hand still on Iruka's back while the other was reaching for the doorknob. Iruka clenched and unclenched his hands. "What do you want?" He whispered, jaw tight and tension seeping back into his shoulders.

"I want to talk." was the simply reply. Iruka noted Kakashi's voice still gave nothing away. Not that he had much success in reading the man before.

Iruka's carefully planned apology, the one he'd been working on for the last two months, flew out of his head and left him feeling empty and dazed. Kakashi was being too calm for someone who had just woken up from a coma, and Iruka's mind played snippets of _Kill Bill_, not at all helping his current situation. He didn't need Kakashi lobbing his head off with a katana.

He bolted.

Kakashi was startled, but Iruka didn't look back as he pushed past the emergency exit door, setting the alarm off and the entire floor into a general panic. Iruka could only hear the pounding in his ears as he jumped down flight after flight of stairs, pushing past security and nearly slamming into the automatic doors of the hospital entrance. The night air was crisp and chilly against his sweat-dampened skin, but he kept running, not sure of his destination but somewhere far enough to shake the feeling of Kakashi's calm eye watching.

-----

The next thing Iruka was aware of, he was being gently shaken and someone was speaking to him. By the smell of tobacco around him, it was Asuma.

"Oi...I know I'm being more lenient than some of the captains around here, but this ain't your bed, Umino. Usually I have to threaten you to leave..."

Iruka blinked tiredly as the man's jagged face came into view, instantly regretting opening his eyes as smoke was blown into them and sunlight streamed into his view. Iruka hissed and swatted the other man away. "What time is it?" he asked groggily. Perhaps he'd just fallen asleep last night and everything that had happened was all just a dream. No matter what kind of person it made him, he hoped Kakashi was still in a coma.

"Eight. Did you come here from the hospital?" A chair scraped against the carpeted floor as Asuma dragged a chair to sit across his subordinate. Iruka yawned and rubbed at his eyes, idly scratching his cheek. "Oi..." Asuma repeated when Iruka failed to respond.

"Hm? Sorry, what about the hospital?" Iruka slumped back onto his desk, closing his eyes as he felt another wave of sleep begin to pass over him. He really hadn't been sleeping much and it'd be nice to maybe take a vacation--

"A nurse called. I heard Kakashi woke up."

Iruka slowly sat up in his chair and properly faced his boss, giving a tired, defeated nod. Iruka ran shaky fingers through his hair, retying his ponytail and trying to regain some of his composure lost to the realization that reality was helpfully providing. "I guess it wasn't a dream, huh..."

Asuma snorted. "I offered you a vacation when that case closed, Umino. You should've taken it." It was Iruka's turn to snort. "Yeah, yeah, you always put your job first," Asuma put out his finished cigarette and lit another one up, much to Iruka's dismay. "but now that Kakashi's up and you got another case, I guess you have no choice but to take them on, eh?" The last part was said with a sly grin, further deepening Iruka's desire to take the cigarette and snuff it out in Asuma's hand.

"I also heard you ran off when he was finally up and about."

Iruka resisted the urge to bury his head back into his arms and wish the world away, opting instead to lean back in his chair and give another defeated nod.

"It's not like you to run from anything." Another puff of smoke entered Iruka's nostrils, causing him to hunch forward and cough. He threw Asuma a glare to show his displeasure.

"Did Kakashi ever tell you about the time he was in your position? As a detective, I mean." Asuma waved his hand in the air in remembrance of past days, cigarette in hand and ashes flying off in all directions.

"Eh? In my position?" Iruka wasn't paying much attention to the cigarette anymore, curiosity now piqued and all traces of sleep gone.

Asuma hummed in confirmation. "I think it was about a year or two before you transferred in here. He first applied for the job straight out of college—pretty young, too. I think he had his badge before his coming-of-age ceremony(1)." Asuma chuckled and stared out the window, no longer blowing smoke but just letting the cigarette burn steadily.

Iruka blinked in surprise, which was all he could do in reaction to the news. Kakashi was that young when he entered his job? But...

"So why is he a CSI now?"

"Hm?" Asuma turned with a raised eyebrow, forgetting that he'd left his story unfinished. "Ah...let's see, how long ago was it..." He put the butt back in his mouth in thought. "You came two years ago, right?" Iruka nodded. "I think it was about a few months before that when he decided to make the switch. It took all of us by surprise...he did it without really telling anyone until he'd secured his job. He sure rose through the ranks quickly...now he's a supervisor of his own team." Asuma shook his head in wonder, tapping his fingers against the table. "Usually it's the other way around, right? CSI becoming detectives...but Kakashi was always a strange one; never really told anyone why he did that."

Iruka was lost to his own thoughts, still reeling from the information Kakashi had never even hinted at. It wasn't a surprising image; he had no problem imagining Kakashi with a gun strapped to his hip and chasing down criminals, but the man was always so methodical and calculating. Was Kakashi even punctual when catching criminals?

A question suddenly forced itself out of Iruka's head before he even processed it. "Was there a difficult case that maybe influenced him to stop being a detective...?"

Asuma turned, eyebrow raised again as if he'd forgotten Iruka was still sitting there. "Not that I know of." He stuffed the deathstick back into his mouth. "Well, all his cases were difficult and usually gruesome, but he showed no signs that he wanted to do anything else. He handled his cases relatively the same, whether he solved them or not, and the last one wasn't particularly gruesome or life-altering."

Iruka was beginning to wonder just how well he knew Hatake Kakashi with every word that was coming out of Asuma's mouth. Iruka felt so young stepping into his job, but compared to Kakashi, he had years to catch up on.

"Then again," Asuma stubbed out his cigarette and turned to Iruka. "you never really shared what happened in your last case either."

Iruka wasn't expecting that, and resisted his instinctual desire to throw himself out the window. "I don't know." he said honestly.

"Your report wasn't specific about it." Asuma finally stopped smoking, but Iruka found that the silence was deafening and without anything in Asuma's mouth or hand, his entire persona was a lot more intense. "You wrote, 'Upon keeping watch at the crime scene as CSI Hatake Kakashi collected evidence, the suspect returned to the scene and pulled out a semi-automatic gun and held me at gunpoint. At that point, CSI Hatake called for backup, alerting the suspect, who then held me hostage as Hatake attempted a negotiation. Police cars were arriving, and when the suspect had his head turned, CSI Hatake lunged for the gun and wrestled the suspect to the ground, getting shot in the process.'"

Iruka himself knew his report word-for-word and was following along, going over each word as he'd written it. "I thought that was fairly specific."

Asuma glanced at his watch. "Hm, not of your role in it."

Iruka cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"What were _you_ doing throughout the entire situation? As the suspect held you at gunpoint, as you were held hostage, and as Kakashi was trying to subdue him." Asuma leaned back in his chair comfortably, watching Iruka with an intensity he'd rarely seen from his boss. It seemed like they were in the interrogation room and Asuma had piles of evidence against him.

"I," Iruka took a deep breath, watching as his memories replayed behind his eyelids. The feeling wasn't nice to relive. "I was struggling with the suspect...yelling at Kakashi to get out and to let me deal with him. Then, when Kakashi lunged...he got between us and pushed be aside and the next thing I knew..." Iruka tried to say it all without emotion, but his voice quivered as he said Kakashi's name. He dug his fingers into his palms. "Kakashi didn't even have his gun on him...he always left it in his kit while collecting evidence..."

"Which means," Asuma leaned forward again and clasped a firm hand on his shoulder. "you couldn't have done anything. It's not your fault Kakashi got shot, and now that he's awake, I'm sure he's wondering where the hell you are and why you ran off like some woman." He said the latter half with a chuckle and grin, pounding Iruka's head with a gentle fist. "I'm no good with this stuff, but I can't have you moping around here anymore; I've assigned you a case, and I expect you to handle it. You can have today off, but just know the blond kid disappeared from the hospital this morning—you'd better find him when you get back to work."

Iruka raised an eyebrow and bowed without a word to his captain. He was relieved to hear those words from his captain, but a part of Iruka was still doubtful. After all, the person he really needed to talk to about what happened was waiting for him at the hospital.

---

Iruka gave two soft knocks before entering Kakashi's room, trying to look up but instead staring at his shoelaces. He took a few deep breaths before lifting his head.

The bed was empty.

"Eh...Kakashi?"

A door was opened behind Iruka and he turned to find Kakashi walking out of the bathroom, cane gone and face looking scrubbed. His skin wasn't as pale, but he still looked lethargic. His eye crinkled as he smiled.

"You came back." was the simple statement.

"Ah...yea..." Iruka caught himself staring, but wasn't quite sure what to do about it. They stood there for a few moments, Kakashi smiling and Iruka gaping. "Didn't you just come out of a coma?"

"It's the strangest thing, I'll admit," Kakashi responded, tossing him a light shrug as he walked passed Iruka and sat back down on the bed, "but I'm just going to go with it for now and figure it out later." He grinned cheekily.

Although Iruka had been staring at Kakashi's face for the duration of his prolonged nap, he never really admired it; when Kakashi worked, he always had a mask on (claiming it was as part of his job, but none of the other CSIs wore masks, so Iruka suspected Kakashi just thought it made him look cool), and even when they were off duty, Iruka could never catch the man eating or drinking. Now, his face was full of color and animate, rather than pale and lifeless.

"But I have been thinking about it," Kakashi continued, settling against his propped pillows and gesturing for Iruka to sit in the chair next to the bed. "Right before waking up and seeing you, I remember feeling this heat wave or something pass over me, and it kind of woke me up. The sensation was like swimming under mud and someone pulled me to the surface." Kakashi closed his eyes in contemplation. "And when I went to the bathroom after you left, I looked in the mirror and found this."

Kakashi opened his eyes—both of them, and Iruka started, almost knocking his chair over as he stood up and surveyed Kakashi's red eye. His spinning red eye.

"Wha--"

"I don't know," Kakashi closed his left eye, leaning heavily against the pillows. "but it tires me out when I open this eye. Maybe it's because I've been blind in it for so long that it takes too much energy." Kakashi sighed, softly rubbing his face.

Iruka was at a loss for words, so he sat back in his chair, his legs shaky and the beginnings of a headache forming behind his forehead. He just stared at Kakashi.

"But what's even stranger," Kakashi opened his right eye and met Iruka's gaze. "is that I see things clearer with this." He pointed at the closed lid, looking at Iruka as if he was giving a testimony. His voice was steady, but there was an underlying hint of confusion and fascination.

Iruka could only stare dumbly and wonder if both of them were going crazy. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that demanded he formulate an answer for all the strange things that had happened, but the headache was taking over and his hand immediately went to the bridge of his nose and began kneading.

"What do you make of this, detective?"

Kakashi said it in such a way that Iruka's head snapped up in surprise. The tone of his voice wasn't at all formal or professional, as it usually was, but it sounded...playful, and it damn well threw Iruka into another spiral of confusion. "Eh...?" He eloquently asked for a reiteration.

"Captain Asuma stopped by earlier and I relayed the same information. He said he would pass it on to my superiors," Kakashi's playful tone disappeared, replaced with his usual professionalism. "but I'd like to know what you think about this so far." It was like they were discussing a case; like he hadn't just come out of a coma.

"I," Iruka took a deep breath, "have no idea what to make of all this." He slumped forward, resting his forehead atop the bed near Kakashi's knee. "There have been too many thing that've gone on and I have no idea what to make of any of it. First, a kid jumps off the roof and is still healthy enough to sneak out of the hospital, then you wake up instantly healed with a new eye, and you're not angry at all that I nearly got you killed!" Iruka's voice gradually grew louder and louder with each word, lifting his head to almost glare at Kakashi.

The other man slowly blinked, unmoving on his perch. Iruka's chest was heaving and he leaned forward on his hands, trying to find some reaction out of Kakashi.

"Iruka, you're very annoying when you're stressed," Iruka felt a the beginnings of a blush climb over his scarred nose, spreading to his cheeks. Kakashi could've used the word 'cute' rather than 'annoying' with that tone, his mouth stretched into another cheeky grin. "But I still find you very attractive."

_Now_ Iruka blushed even more, shocked and frozen in the same position. "Wha...what are you talking about?" He felt his mouth go dry.

"Well, since you darted off earlier I've been thinking," Kakashi still had yet to cease his grinning. "I was never able to tell you before, but I almost died," Iruka inwardly cringed, "and never told you that since we met, I've always found you fascinating."

Iruka slowly sat back in his chair, dumbly cocking his head to the side as he took Kakashi's words in. "What...?"

Kakashi sat patiently. "You take your cases to heart and allow that to get in the way of your judgment," Kakashi said coolly as Iruka wondered whether this was supposed to be a confession or not. "but it's absolutely fascinating how you end up solving your cases. I used to know someone like you." Kakashi's grin faded, replaced with a calm upturn of his lips. "I'm not sure what kind of relationship we had before, but I'd like to elevate it as of now."

Iruka wasn't sure what to make of Kakashi. He was talking about dating in such a weird way that Iruka wondered if Kakashi was high. Then again, the way he was saying it was very Kakashi-like. There he was, calmly sitting on the bed, cheeky grin back on his face. Iruka wasn't sure if it was out of confidence or in an attempt to sway his decision.

"Um..." Iruka lifted his brow, still stunned and not sure of what to do. He could admit to having been attracted to the other man, but that was back when they first met. Kakashi hadn't given any indication toward him, so Iruka eventually gave up gaining his attention. They rarely hung out together, and when they did, it was with their coworkers either eating or drinking. The only time they talked was at work, about cases. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Kakashi laughed so long and so loud that a nurse had to come in and shush him.

End Chapter 2

Author's Note:

(1) In many cultures and countries, there's a ceremony like this that celebrates a person's step into adulthood. In Japan, it's at the beginning of the new year (second Monday in January, I believe), where 20-year olds can call themselves adults—let the voting and drinking begin.


	3. Questions

Summary: Naruto has always wondered what would happen to Kyuubi when his body finally gave out. Now, a thousand years later, he's still wondering. SasuNaruSasu

Title: Samsara Broken

Author: curtainsfall

Chapter 03 – Questions

By the time Naruto and Sasuke crept quietly back through their apartment window, the hospital gown was gone and Sasuke was laving at the arching neck illuminated by the morning sun. Naruto's very naked body was trapped between the bedroom door and Sasuke's thin clothing, both of them grinding and rubbing against each other as one bit into taut skin and the other clawed at frustrating clothing. Fabric was ripping and Sasuke pinched a nipple in retaliation. They were both moaning.

Naruto shoved Sasuke off of him toward the bed, both men falling heavily onto the squeaking mattress. Sasuke cringed and muttered something that was lost in their kisses. Naruto panted, putting his arms on either side of Sasuke's shoulders as they ground against each other. The other's hands were gripping his ass, fingers playing with his balls. Naruto gasped Sasuke's name.

"I think you owe me one," Naruto's chest was heaving as he tried to take control of himself, taking deep breaths. Sasuke wasn't really helping as his wandering hand fisted them both and began pumping leisurely. Naruto reached down to still their movements. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "I had to get pushed off the roof."

Sasuke's fingers were rubbing light circles onto Naruto's leaking erection even as his hand was trying to hold Sasuke's from moving. It was beginning to drive Naruto insane and his resolve was beginning to crack. Sasuke remained silent, looking at him intensely. Naruto lowered his head and took Sasuke's mouth, plunging his tongue inside and holding his head, thumbs sliding across pale cheeks and fingers weaving through dark hair. When they broke apart, both were breathing heavily and Sasuke gave a shaky "okay."

Naruto grinned, even as his dick was throbbing and Sasuke's own was pressed against his stomach. He maneuvered off of Sasuke and began rifling through their backpacks. They'd almost finished unpacking, but their bags were still haphazardly thrown all over the place. When he finally found the lube, he turned back to the bed to find Sasuke watching him, eyes lidded and glazed, thumb rubbing circles into his own erection just as he was doing with Naruto's not a minute before. Naruto's mouth went dry at the sight and he scrambled back onto the bed.

"You sure?" He panted, smearing his already leaking cock with lubricant, grunting as he watched Sasuke's face ignite with even more passion and lust. Naruto smeared more lube on his fingers and was about to lean over when Sasuke suddenly sat up and pushed the other man down on the bed, hand pale hand splayed on a tan chest. They were both silent for a long moment.

Naruto's leg was hanging over the side of the bed and Sasuke had his knees on either side of Naruto's stomach, erection jutting out from dark curls. Naruto admired Sasuke's body from his vantage point; not that he hadn't hundreds of times before, but he never tired of his lover's body. Every spot was silk and steel, scarred with battle and masculine in every sense of the word. He would never get tired of looking at Sasuke. Even his eyes radiated strength and passion that made Naruto heady. Of course, he would probably first drink a gallon of spoiled milk before saying anything so sappy, but those were always the thoughts that went through his mind when he was with Sasuke.

Naruto shifted and his erection brushed Sasuke's taut backside. This seemed to break Sasuke out of whatever he was thinking about. He grasped Naruto's lubricated hand and guided the fingers to his own opening, never breaking eye contact. Naruto traced the outside, letting out a small groan as he slipped the finger in, listening as Sasuke's breathing hitched and evened out. He slipped another finger inside and Sasuke moved them both in and out, moving his own body along with the motions. Naruto bit his lip in the effort to gain control of himself as Sasuke continued to stare at him with such latent emotion that Naruto felt ready to come.

Naruto pushed another finger inside of Sasuke, who was now panting and hand slightly trembling as Naruto pushed in and out without assistance, almost roughly as his other hand grasped Sasuke's thigh. His own erection was leaking and throbbing in anticipation of being in Sasuke.

His fingers stretched and bent, and Sasuke finally broke eye contact as his back arched and he threw his head back, groaning in pleasure. Naruto immediately took his fingers out and grabbed Sasuke's hips, repositioning himself and not waiting for the other's consent to continue. Their chests were heaving, a sheen of sweat trailing down their bodies as Sasuke was lowered onto Naruto's aching dick. He slowly sank onto Naruto's hips, pinching Naruto's nipple and causing him to cry out. Naruto, in retaliation, lifting Sasuke and slammed him back down onto his erection.

Sasuke moaned Naruto's name, eyes clenched in pleasure as Naruto roughly brushed against his prostate, fingers digging into Naruto's arms. Naruto was leaving bruises on pale hips as he thrust and met Sasuke's movements. "Damnit..." Naruto moaned, clenching his own eyes shut as he felt the Sasuke's heat clench around him every time he thrust.

He shifted his hips and the next time he entered Sasuke, the other gasped, eyes wide and quickening his pace. Incoherent words flowed out of both their lips, both urging each other harder and faster as they both ground against each other. Naruto lifted a shaking hand to Sasuke's arousal, jerking him off in time with his thrusts. Sasuke moaned louder at the added stimulation, moving erratically. Naruto thought it was the sexiest thing he'd ever seen.

"Ngn...Naruto..." Sasuke breathed, opening his eyes to lock with Naruto's for a brief moment before he clenched them shut and arched against him, coming hard into Naruto's hand, splashing onto their bodies. He clenched impossibly tighter around Naruto, who cried out as he emptied himself into the jerking body above him.

Their heavy breathing was loud in the dark room, moonlight barely illuminating their bodies. The open window was providing a damp breeze ghosting along their sweaty bodies, keeping them from cooling off. Sasuke was slumped lazily atop Naruto, hands shakily resting on the blond's chest. Naruto's own hands were unmoving on Sasuke's hips. Sasuke's eyes were opened to slits, unfocused and shining in the darkness.

It was always in the silent moments after their—lovemaking? Fucking? Naruto wasn't sure what to call it but he preferred there to be no labels on what they did with each other—that Sasuke would withdraw into himself and become completely unreadable. At first, Naruto found it curiously frightening that he, who had known Sasuke for so long, couldn't even fathom what was going through his head, but over time, Naruto took it as Sasuke's opportunity to just relax and let go of the reserves and restrictions he placed so heavily upon himself during the rest of the day.

"Sasuke..." Naruto's throat was hoarse and his voice came out scratchy. He cleared it and Sasuke looked up, his eyes focused. He had yet to move from his position atop Naruto. "I...you know I love you, right?"

Sasuke slowly blinked, one of his hands moving languidly across Naruto's chest to rest against a scarred cheek. He leaned down and softly touched their lips together, both of them watching the other with half-lidded eyes. Sasuke pulled back and Naruto instinctively tried to follow retreating lips, but Sasuke was already raising himself off of Naruto, both of them exhaling as Naruto's sensitive organ was taken out. They were both still sweating and Naruto could smell rain coming.

Without another word, they began changing the sheets.

-----

Iruka made it through the building's doors just as rain began pouring down. He shook out the few droplets clinging to his hair and clothes, trying to wipe his shoes on the mat so he didn't track mud onto the newly-cleaned floors. The glaring janitor in the corner made sure of that.

Iruka was trying very hard to _not think about Kakashi_.

He was about to step into the elevator when Inuzuka Kiba stepped out, giving a small "Aha!" and handing him a manila folder while pulling him. Iruka raised an eyebrow at his subordinate, who only grinned in return. Kiba was too easily excited and watched way too many cop movies in his younger days. He was fresh out of the academy and seemed ready to take all the veteran criminals of downtown Tokyo, no matter his lack of experience and naïve distinction between good and bad.

"Captain Asuma sent me to help collect evidence on your jumper," Kiba explained as Iruka rifled through the thin folder. "Needless to say, there wasn't much to collect."

Iruka remained silent as he looked through the photos of an empty rooftop. It looked completely ordinary; there wasn't anything that made it distinct. "There's no sign of struggle." Iruka murmured.

"Exactly!" Kiba exclaimed so loudly that Iruka flinched. There was no one else in the elevator, making Kiba's voice reverberate even more so. "Which is why I think he jumped!"

Iruka stepped out onto their department floor, a trailing Kiba keeping pace as Iruka made his way to his desk. "Or he was pushed off." He said simply.

Kiba lifted an eyebrow. "Why would someone just let themselves be pushed off of a building?" He stood over Iruka, waiting to catch any murmur of thought passing the detective's lips.

"He could've just tripped; the building had no fencing around the roof area," Iruka rifled through the pictures, pointing to one that incorporated the low walls of the roof. "Or say he was with someone he trusted and they pushed him off. He would've been so surprised that he didn't have time to...react..." Iruka's voice trailed as he formulated the scenario in his mind.

Was that why the brunette hadn't wanted to give him a name or information?

No insurance? Iruka wanted to scoff. The kid was hiding something, and it might've been killing intent.

Was that why he sat unmoving at the blond's bedside? So he could finish the job once he woke up?

_Is that why they disappeared?_

Iruka stood up from his seat so quickly Kiba stumbled backward, watching with wide eyes as the detective quickly searched for the address of the apartment through his papers. "The kid probably lives at the apartment he was pushed from...." Iruka forgot Kiba was still standing there, bewildered and trying to keep up with what he was saying. He picked up his phone and dialed, hurriedly asking for a warrant.

He might be too late.

---

Iruka, wet from the relentless rain, began knocking furiously on the apartment door, not caring that he was drawing curious looks from neighbors and the landlord was rushing in with a key to assist him. The cops stood on his sides, guns drawn and aimed at the door.

Before Iruka could slip the key in, the handle turned and the door swung open, revealing the disheveled and now damp brunette from earlier. He still had that glare on his face.

Iruka returned the gesture and brought out the warrant, slipping into the room with some of the officers and immediately looking for a bleached head. He heard an officer ask the young man to step outside as Iruka began taking the room in. Kiba followed suit. While the other men looked through the house for weapons, he looked around the living space.

The apartment looked lived in and seemed homey...much warmer than the brunette standing outside. There were works of art hanging on the walls, many foreign while some were native, and the cupboards contained enough food for more than one person. There was a picture next to the couch in the living room. Iruka couldn't see it with the glare on its glass frame, and just as he was reaching for it, an officers walked back out. "It's clear. There was someone in the shower, but he stepped out when we barged in." One of them chuckled as they all filed back outside to keep watch over the brunette.

"Was he blond?" Iruka asked, placing his own gun back in its holster.

The officer nodded his affirmation. Iruka stepped through the hallway toward where he thought the bathroom might be, Kiba still clinging close and his breath fast. Iruka could practically feel the adrenaline coursing through the kid's blood.

He began to hear broken curses and saw the steam of a hot shower flitting out one of the doors. Iruka knocked twice and pushed the ajar door open further, revealing the blond he saw earlier, wrapping a towel around his waist and drying his hair with another. He looked up, and Iruka gaped. The blond—Uzumaki Naruto—looked completely healthy and not at all like he fell off a building.

The young man stared back, hands stilled over his head and eyes seeing right through him. Iruka felt chilly despite the humid air. Kiba didn't notice the silence. Rather, he started running his mouth from behind Iruka. "We should arrest both of them! How do we even know if this is the guy? He looks completely fine! Maybe they tried to kill a look-alike and took him from the hospital and killed him somewhere else!"

_No_, Iruka thought to himself, _this is the man I saw earlier. There's no doubt about it._

The blond man resumed toweling himself off, unheeding Kiba's demands that he put the towel down and put his hands where they could be seen.

"Can I at least put on some clothes?" The blond snapped back, not even looking at Kiba but brushing past both of them to the room next to the bathroom. Kiba stopped him from closing the door.

"We can't have you offing yourself before we take you in, now can we?" Kiba grinned mockingly, exposing his sharp canines and gesturing for the blond to get his clothes. "Don't worry, we won't peek."

The blond muttered something beneath his breath that sounded like it was in English, but Iruka couldn't catch it. He stayed silent as the young man dressed, taking note of the room. It seemed homey—like it was out in the living room—but the bedroom looked like it incorporated the brunette as well. Darker, but in a less-than-morbid way. If they were sharing the bedroom, Iruka's theory was making room for a lovers' quarrel gone wrong.

But that didn't explain why the blond was back here, healthy and not at all concerned he'd been thrown off a roof.

---

Once again, Naruto was at the hospital, surrounded by doctors and the nauseating smell of antiseptic or whatever the hell that was. And he got rained on. Both aspects served to deepen his irritation. That, along with doctors on every side poking him with things.

Apparently, he was an anomaly to these people, and he couldn't blame them for looking at him like a test subject, but he was especially getting irritated with that one doctor constantly poking him in the ass.

It didn't help that he was still reeling from seeing Kiba.

_Just how many of them am I going to see? _Naruto thought to himself, trying to swat away one of the wayward hands. All of them were cool and professional, trying to search for flaws on his skin that would indicate his earlier injuries. He'd been through an x-ray and MRI twice already.

Naruto was also still trying to figure out where Sasuke was. They were taken in different cars, so maybe Sasuke was at the police station? Naruto wondered whether they was going to be investigated. There was a vicious poke on his arm and he immediately tensed and broke the needle that was drawing his blood, letting out an irritated growl. The doctor backed off and slipped out the door.

"Aren't you people infringing on my rights or something?" Naruto asked irritably, swatting the others away and hiding his arm as it healed itself.

There was a weak trace of chakra outside, and Naruto whipped his head around as Iruka entered the room, accompanied by Kiba. They were both speaking in low tones, but Naruto could pick up on their conversation as they entered.

"It could be a DV1 case and he's threatening him..."

"It could be, but we'll need to ask first, Inuzuka."

"What's the point if he's been threatened to stay quiet?"

"We'll see."

Naruto lifted a brow as the rest of the doctors retreated and Iruka motioned for Naruto to sit on the bed. He was staring at Naruto intently, trying to gather as much information possible with just mannerisms and expressions alone. Naruto inwardly smirked. Perhaps _this_ Iruka had a little bit of a ninja in him. He schooled his expression to remain clueless as to what was going on.

In the meantime, he tried not to stare at Kiba. His efforts were in vain, however, as the exuberant and scruffy male stepped in front of Iruka to stare blatantly into Naruto's face. The latter leaned back as Kiba continued to lean forward. His face was void of his family markings, but his canines were visible under his upper lip and he carried the unmistakable scent of dogs. Naruto was a bit surprised Akamaru wasn't trailing behind him somewhere.

"Inuzuka, am I going to have to treat you like one of your dogs and pull you away by the scruff of your neck?" Iruka seemed a little exasperated at this point, fingers twitching with the urge to carry out his threat. Naruto held in a grin as Kiba reluctantly pulled back.

"Uzumaki Naruto, was it?"

Naruto shifted his gaze back to Iruka's, trying to take in that round face and stern expression without remembering a similar pair of chocolate eyes and a kind smile. Naruto shifted his eyes to stare past Iruka's shoulder. He nodded.

"The same Uzumaki Naruto who fell from his apartment complex early this morning and disappeared from this hospital upon waking?" Iruka was too formal for Naruto's liking; it left a bad taste in his mouth. He nodded sharply.

"Were you pushed? Or did you jump?" The question was quiet and undemanding, but Naruto could feel the chakra radiating off of Iruka in waves. It wasn't strong, but neither was it subtle. Kiba's own was imposing, both of them twisting and trying to stifle Naruto. He felt caged, but that was nothing new to him.

---

Iruka was trying to reign in his emotions, especially after what Kakashi had so candidly pointed out to him not a couple hours ago. He was trying to be calm, but this kid seemed to make Iruka react violently to the case. The worst part about it was that he had no idea why.

This Uzumaki Naruto wasn't exceptionally different from any other Japanese man out on the street with bleached hair. He wasn't very tall, probably about the same height as the brunette and _maybe_ an inch taller than himself, and he was probably gay. Nothing strange about any of those things. He could even be a foreigner; his eyes were a striking blue that would've definitely stood out in a crowd, but the male didn't exactly radiate the grace of an international model.

Yet something rattled Iruka.

Which wasn't to say Iruka was either easily rattled or no other case had that effect on him. It could've been the effects of the last case bearing down on him. The end result, of course, was still in his hospital room downstairs, waiting for Iruka's return. And answer.

But this kid—a young man who seemed barely out of college—was barely saying anything to help himself in this strange situation. He was neither denying nor affirming anything that would lead the investigation forward; the brunette was at the station, but they couldn't hold him there for long unless they had anything from the blond. And all he was doing was sitting there, staring past Iruka like he didn't want to see any of them. He didn't seem guilty of anything. He just seemed...

Resigned.

The thought stemmed from the expression on the blond's face. He was protecting either himself or the brunette, Iruka could gather, but there was something about the dullness of those eyes that made Iruka take a second look. If the kid smiled, Iruka wondered how they'd light up. Iruka felt like his head was going in circles. He wasn't sure how to handle this case, as he didn't usually deal with younger people. Usually it was drug busts, home invasions, or even a murder now and then, but the psychologically broken were located in a territory he'd rather not tread.

After a long moment, Iruka concluded Uzumaki Naruto wasn't going to speak about the incident. He grabbed the manila folder from Kiba. The dog-lover couldn't keep still, though, and recited the papers like he'd read them a thousand times.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Age twenty-five. Residence: Nishiazabu Royal Mansion apartment complex, NishiAzabu, 3-3-11, Minato. Eight minutes from both the Roppongi and Hiroo stations. Living there for almost three years. Co-owned by yourself and a one Uchiha Sasuke." Kiba looked self-satisfied. Iruka looked up from the paper to gauge the blond's reaction. None so far. Iruka grunted; at least he finally got the brunette's name. It sounded familiar, but Iruka let it pass as he continued listening to Kiba.

"No past prior convictions on either of your parts. Both of you moved here three years ago before buying the apartment; neither of you even have a speeding ticket. Uchiha _worked_ at the Nova chain school teaching English before it went belly-up last year, and has since been doing odd-jobs here and there." Iruka looked up again. Still no reaction. Kiba looked bemused. "Should I read off your situation?"

Uzumaki turned a calculating gaze to meet Iruka's eyes, apparently not listening to Kiba's recitation at all. Iruka wanted to hit him upside the head. Brat. "Uzumaki Naruto: worked as a translator for a few small-name international companies, never finding a stable job. Currently has none. Quite a short list you have here." Kiba smugly grinned, dragging over a chair to slouch in. "Maybe the bills were piling up for you two and you thought the only way out was for one of you to die. Maybe Uchiha was hoping to collect the insurance payout but you couldn't let that happen. Or," Iruka remained silent, still waiting for a response. "maybe you thought you could do him a favor and kill yourself so he could have a little more money to make it through the month."

Uzumaki continued to sit there, unmoving. Kiba's approach to rattle him hadn't worked. There was no evidence to back up anything he was saying; all both of them wanted was to see if the kid had any reaction. If he did, maybe he would've spilled the truth.

Or maybe he knew his way around the system. Iruka hoped it wasn't that.

"Look, Uzumaki, we're trying to help you," Iruka leaned forward, staring into those blue eyes that refused to meet his gaze. "but we can't hold Uchiha unless you give us something to keep him in jail. You don't have to be afraid of him. If he's hurting you, you can do something about it now. Japan's not what it used to be." Iruka reassured him, trying to get _something_ out of the kid.

When Uzumaki opened his mouth, Iruka resisted the urge to lean in with anticipation.

"There's nothing like that going on."

And that was it. Iruka waited in stretched patience, waiting to hear any elaboration or retelling of what happened earlier that morning. There was nothing else. The blond simply sat there, staring at nothing. Iruka sighed.

"I think we should bring in a doctor."

-----

Iruka had finally given up on trying to get the story out of him, and Naruto couldn't really blame him. However, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that he hadn't put up more of a fight. The Iruka he knew—emphasis on the "knew," Naruto reminded himself—would've done anything for his students. But, Naruto reminded himself again, he wasn't his student.

So now Naruto found himself in another room, no longer smelling like soap or unidentifiable substances, but surrounded by ugly brown walls and leather couches that squeaked under every move he made. It was professional, but made him feel out of place. What kind of shrink were they making him see again?

As he was trying to remember, he felt another faint chakra signature approach. Naruto inwardly groaned, wondering what the hell was going on. First Iruka, then Kakashi, and then Kiba. Who else could it be? Naruto steeled himself. He could handle it. Maybe.

The door swung open and a head of pink hair flittered into view. Naruto resisted the urge to let his jaw drop. All thoughts about "handling it" were thrown out of his head and he blanched, which didn't go unnoticed by the woman who stepped into the room. _What. The. Hell._

"I'm Doctor Haruno Sakura. It's nice to meet you Uzumaki-san."

The woman bowed and Naruto dumbly bowed in return, mumbling a greeting. His headache was coming back, and all he could do was lean back into the couch and hope Sasuke's plan could accommodate a few difficulties.

-----

Iruka looked around the rooftop, umbrella in hand and trying to find anything the CSIs might've missed. There were no blood drops, signs of struggle, _anything_. It was sparse; not even a plant was up there. He sighed and climbed back down the steps, encountering a flushed Kiba who was running up.

"You left without me!" Came the accusation.

Iruka wasn't sure how to answer the truth, so he threw an apologetic smile toward his subordinate and walked past him, heading back down to the third floor. He knocked on the door.

An elderly woman opened the door slightly, taking in the badge that Iruka held up and trying to determine its viability. She blinked, suspicion gone. "Can I help you?"

"I was wondering if you've seen or heard anything weird with your second floor neighbors." Iruka asked politely as Kiba brought out his notepad and pen.

"The boys? They moved in a few years ago...keep to themselves. I can't hear very well so I don't know what goes on with them," she explained, pointing to the hearing aid in her ear. Iruka nodded. "I think they're gay." She whispered with finality.

Iruka hid his amusement with another nod. "Anything else? Do they fight a lot? Have strangers been coming in and out of their apartment?"

The woman paused to think. "Like I said, I can't hear very much what goes on downstairs, but I've never seen any visitors. They keep to themselves. I don't think they have any friends. They're usually together. Sometimes one or the other will go on a trip or something and then come back."

Iruka wondered whether any of this information was relevant. "Miss...do you know their names?"

The woman narrowed her eyes at Iruka. "Why should I care what their names are? I don't talk to them." She said blatantly, the beginnings of a glare at Iruka. He smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry if I've interrupted your morning. Thank you for your help." He bowed politely and turned, heading back down the stairs. _She seems to genuinely know nothing, _He thought. _Another dead end?_

"Um!," The woman spoke again, making Iruka pause in his descent. "They aren't bad kids, though. At least, they don't seem that way. They just seemed to come out of nowhere one day and bought the apartment downstairs and have been living there quietly ever since. But, yesterday was kind of weird..." her voice trailed off and Iruka gently prompted her to continue. "Well I saw them come in a taxi yesterday morning with some luggage. I thought they'd been gone a trip or something, but I never saw them leave. And...the blond one looked like it was his first time here. He just kept looking around and gawking..." She rose out of her reverie and nodded to Iruka, signaling the end of her story.

Iruka mulled over the piece of information and nodded his thanks again. Kiba made a sound of confusion. "Is that supposed to be helpful?"

Iruka made a noncommittal sound and braved the rain, going back down the stairs to the second floor. He pushed open the door, striding in once again. He wasn't sure what to make of the apartment; it seemed furnished and normal, like the inhabitants had been living there for some time. There was no luggage out to indicate recent travel or that one person was leaving the other, but Iruka couldn't shake the feeling that the place just wasn't as it seemed.

It felt cold.

Iruka donned on a pair of gloves in case he wanted to touch anything. Kiba followed suit. Iruka began walking around the kitchen, opening cupboards and cabinets for anything unusual. There was nothing but dinner plates and empty instant ramen cups. Nothing unusual.

Iruka scanned the living room. The same paintings were hung on some of the walls, the couch was in the same place, and the table he saw earlier was still there.

_Wait._

Iruka rushed over, almost knocking Kiba down in his haste. He looked at the table again. There wasn't even a dust imprint of what _used to be there._

The picture.

Iruka looked around the room; under the couch, in the trash bin, in the bedroom—even in the shower. The picture he didn't get to look at earlier was gone without a trace, and he had no idea where it was. He asked Kiba if he saw anyone take it. Kiba was just as bewildered. Uchiha had been outside the entire time, guarded by the policemen, while Uzumaki had gone from the bathroom straight to the bedroom to change, then escorted out to the car. Iruka could only draw one conclusion.

There was someone else in the room.

End Chapter 3

Author's Note:

1DV: Domestic Violence

I think I may be making the chapters too long. Bleh.

Constructive criticism is appreciated. and/or reviews.


	4. Suspicion

Summary: Naruto has always wondered what would happen to Kyuubi when his body finally gives out. Now, a thousand years later, he's still wondering. SasuNaruSasu

Title: Samsara Broken

Author: curtainsfall

Chapter 04 — Suspicion

Iruka quickly drew out his gun and motioned for Kiba to stay silent. The young man was nearly shaking with excitement, which probably meant he was going to get himself hurt if Iruka didn't watch him.

Slowly, Iruka proceeded further into the apartment, his eyes darting from wall to wall, carefully stepping on the carpeted floor, and trying to hear anything over the pattering rain. He could hear Kiba's breath on his neck, harsh and loud. Iruka glanced at him, mouthing a "stay calm." Kiba nodded, but Iruka knew the exhilarated young detective was going to rush into a possibly dangerous situation. Nevertheless, Iruka proceeded.

He peeked around the bathroom door, leading with his gun as he entered. Everything looked undisturbed. Only his reflection met Iruka's gaze. He turned back out.

The bedroom door was slightly ajar, so Iruka cautiously nudged it open with his foot, gun still pointed forward. Kiba's breathing had finally evened out, but he could sense the agitation radiating off of the young man. Iruka felt his own heartbeat slightly quicken, but it'd been a long time since he got as excited as Kiba in a situation like this.

Iruka quickly scanned the room, trying to figure out if anything else was out of place or showed any indication of a third person. He motioned for Kiba to look around as well.

Nothing was out of place.

Iruka took a deep breath and strapped his gun back in its holster, trying to figure out whether he was relieved or even more agitated. He opted for the former and continued his search around the room. It still seemed the same; the walls were a little more bare than outside, but Iruka could still tell both males slept in this room. The towels Uzumaki used after his shower were on the bed where he'd thrown them earlier, and were still damp with moisture. Iruka began looking under the bed and through the drawers for any sign of the picture from outside.

"Umino-san," Kiba appeared with what looked like a bed sheet in his hands. "They smell bleached."

"Then there probably isn't any DNA to pick up." Iruka said simply, continuing to rifle through one of the drawers. A thought struck him.

"Wait," He straightened, calling Kiba back before he returned the bed sheet. "where did you find that?"

"It was draped over a chair in the computer room." Kiba responded, pointing down the hall.

Iruka grabbed the sheet from Kiba, whose confusion was growing as Iruka grew more and more contemplative. "Take a look, Kiba," Iruka grabbed one of the towels from the bed and held it in one hand while he held the sheet in the other. "what do you notice?"

Kiba raised an eyebrow and looked between the items for a few seconds. "They're both...wet?"

Iruka nodded. "But can you tell me which one is wetter?"

Kiba looked even more puzzled. "Eh? Well," He took hold of the towel and then the sheet. "I think the sheet is slightly more damp than the towel."

"Exactly," Iruka threw the towel back onto the bed and unfurled the sheet, trying to scrutinize it in the sunlight. "How could it be damper when we'd been watching both of them when we came in here? The sheet was draped over a chair and it's not very thick, so it should be drier in comparison to the towel that's been balled up and sitting on this bed." Iruka turned around to catch the realization cross Kiba's face.

"There _must_ be someone else involved."

-----

Sasuke couldn't say he was relieved when a very wet Iruka entered what he could only assume was the interrogation room. The man looked tired as he nodded to the guard, and Kiba, trailing behind him, looked like he caught a bird in his teeth. Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He was almost surprised Akamaru wasn't following him around.

"I'm going to get right down to it, Uchiha," Kiba leaned to within an inch of Sasuke's face, only serving to annoy him and resist further the urge to roll his eyes. "Who else you got working for you?"

The question threw him off. Sasuke stayed silent, quietly watching the emotions flit across Kiba's face. His excitement was dying with his adrenaline, so now he was just getting irritated with Sasuke's silence. He almost smirked; it was way too easy to rile the kid up. Sasuke guessed Kiba hadn't been in the business very long.

"Kiba."

Iruka was sitting in the chair opposite to Sasuke, observing what could only be deemed as a fruitless interview. Kiba drew back from Sasuke's personal space and stood next to his superior, crossing his arms and glaring at Sasuke.

"Uchiha, we have evidence that indicates a third party is involved, and it's looking more and more like you're guilty of something, though we don't know what yet." Iruka began looking through his folder, which Sasuke noted was a little thicker this time. Maybe they gathered more information on him and Naruto? But there wasn't much on them to begin with. Unless...

Did Naruto say anything?

Sasuke could imagine Naruto doing about a thousand different stupid things, but putting their lives in jeopardy wasn't one of them. However, these were unusual circumstances, and being surrounded by so many of his past friends might shake him up enough to loosen his tongue. Seeing these people had less of an effect on Sasuke; they were never really his friends to begin with. Kakashi might've come close, but he knew how to distance himself from that man.

"I have a report here from the hospital psychiatrist Haruno-san that says Uzumaki Naruto may be suffering from some sort of amnesia or PTSD. He paled upon seeing her and seemed very agitated through their meeting. She sat with him for an hour before he said one emotional thing."

Sasuke was barely registering anything Iruka was saying. First Iruka, then Kakashi, then Kiba, and now _Sakura_​? No wonder Naruto was agitated during their meeting. The report sounded too clipped and unsure; Sakura herself probably wasn't sure if there was anything wrong with Naruto in the first place. Iruka was trying to sound confident enough so Sasuke would start denying or affirming, but the uncertainty in his voice was evident enough to Sasuke's ears.

"He said," Iruka continued at Sasuke's lack of reaction. "'where's Sasuke?'"

Sasuke finally met his stern gaze, and he couldn't quite remember the last time Iruka looked so serious. His entire face looked worn. Kiba was silent at his side, also watching Sasuke for a reaction. Sasuke thought for a moment.

"Is that all he said?"

Kiba raised his eyebrow. "You afraid he's gonna rat you out?"

Sasuke never took his eyes off Iruka as he waited for an answer. Iruka looked like he was contemplating something. "Yes. The report states that he 'looked very solemn and wouldn't respond any more to anything that was asked,' so Haruno-san released him and turned him back over to hospital care. There were no drugs administered, as her diagnosis was inconclusive. She's asking for another examination tomorrow, and Uzumaki was discharged on the verbal commitment to an appointment tomorrow afternoon. There will be a warrant for his arrest if he doesn't show up."

Sasuke was becoming annoyed. Sakura was relentless and sooner or later, Naruto might end up slipping up and forget what he's doing. What _they_ were doing.

"Do you have anything to say, Uchiha-san?"

It didn't go unnoticed to Sasuke that it was the first time Iruka used any honorifics with him. It was a slight surprise that Iruka could employ so many techniques on suspects to get them to open up to him. Then again, the good cop-bad cop routine was slightly tiresome. Yet the nagging feeling in the back of Sasuke's mind wondered how he and Naruto were going to be able to survive.

"Naruto and I live together," Sasuke stated, still looking straight into Iruka's eyes. The other man stared unflinchingly back. "and I wouldn't do anything to hurt him."

Iruka and Kiba both looked taken aback by the simple statement. It was said quietly and Sasuke knew there was a time that he would've been slightly embarrassed to say something like that, but he said it now with utmost certainty and without so much as a blush. Iruka nodded, seemingly deflating.

"We'll be in touch." Iruka held his gaze a moment longer. _Don't leave town,_ he seemed to say. Kiba huffed in irritation as Sasuke slowly rose from his seat and ignored him as he passed, heading for the door.

Their plan was getting complicated.

---

Sasuke returned to the apartment to find the couch pillows in disarray, drawers open, and a kage bushin stuck to the ceiling.

The chakra was suppressed and it was grinning cheekily at him. He glared back.

"Oi, Sasuke, don't look so grumpy."

Naruto appeared from the kitchen, two steaming cups of tea in hand and a towel for both of them. The clone vanished in a puff of smoke as Sasuke took the offered cup and towel. Naruto appeared to contemplate the new information the clone supplied him with.

"Did you make it as they were arresting us?" Sasuke murmured, sipping the steaming mug.

Naruto nodded as he made his way into the living room, putting the pillows back and placing a picture back on the table. Sasuke noted it was their first Team 7 picture.

"You put a genjutsu on it before answering the door, right?," Naruto asked while nodding to the picture Sasuke put down. At his nod, Naruto shrugged. "Thought it'd be a good idea to wash the sheets and hide the picture while we were gone. In case, you know, he came back." Naruto smirked in triumph and gestured to the messy room. "Guess I was right."

Sasuke grudgingly returned the smirk. "Good job." He murmured, taking a seat on the opposite side of the couch, making a face as Naruto stretched out his legs over his lap. He took another sip of his tea and brushed the offending appendages off. Naruto stuck his tongue out at him.

"Still think we'll be okay?"

There was humor in Naruto's question, but Sasuke seriously thought about it for a moment. He turned to face Naruto.

"Are _you_?"

-----

Naruto took in Sasuke's unwavering eyes and wasn't sure how the light conversation had turned serious so soon. He sighed and took another sip, closing his eyes as he savored the bitter taste, providing some distraction from the piercing gaze.

"I don't know."

Naruto said it quietly, but knew Sasuke heard it. He felt the couch shift and when Naruto opened his eyes, a dark, brooding pair was hovering over him. Sasuke's knees were on either side of Naruto's thighs, their clothes barely touching as Sasuke simply knelt there, staring at Naruto. The blond raised a pale brow.

"We can't lose sight of what we're doing and why we're here." Only the deep timbre of Sasuke's voice could be heard, and coupled with his dark, intense gaze, Naruto had to shift in his place a little bit.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Naruto gently pushed Sasuke back to his side of the couch, taking another sip of his tea to distract himself from the warmth he could still feel hovering over his lap. _Damn him._

Sasuke smirked and sipped his own tea, leaning back into the couch.

-----

Iruka was in the breakroom, re-reading every single paper in the meager file on Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. He couldn't remember where he'd heard the latter's name from, but he must've read it somewhere or heard it from someone for it to seem so familiar. Even Uzumaki's name was beginning to make Iruka feel a sense of deja vu.

"Yo!"

The paper in Iruka's hand was suddenly crumpling in his fist. He looked up to find Kakashi's grinning face and mask still covering half of it, while the rest of him was dressed in civilian clothes. It was a strange sight to behold.

"What are you doing here?" Iruka tried to make his voice as even as possible.

"I got bored so I discharged myself." Kakashi said simply as he strode into the breakroom, taking a seat across from Iruka.

"Can you even do that?" Iruka hesitantly put down the rumpled paper and tried to smooth it out to no avail.

"Probably not." Another simple response. Kakashi was still grinning and looked completely relaxed as Iruka was shakily gathering his papers and trying to fit them back into the case folder.

"Well I should get going—"

"Maa...Asuma said you were on a lunch break right now." Kakashi interrupted, looking a little too smug for Iruka's liking. "How 'bout we go out to eat? My treat."

Before Iruka could respond, Kakashi stood and snagged the folder, shoving it into the nearest person's arms, which happened to be a startled Kiba on his way to speak with Iruka. Before he got a word in, Iruka's arm was grabbed and he was being dragged to the elevator by someone Iruka didn't think should even be able to walk yet. Nevertheless, Kakashi used his renewed strength to his full advantage.

The elevator ride seemed long and for once, it was crammed and no one was trying to get on or off. The doors never opened on any other level, but it slowly descended, mocking Iruka's situation. He glared at nothing in particular.

"Where would you like to eat, Iruka?"

Iruka refused to meet his kidnapper's face. He felt like pouting.

"Anywhere's fine."

"Maa, maa...don't look so angry. You seemed very stressed up there, so let's take this time to relax." Kakashi chuckled, stepping out of the elevator once the doors opened to reveal the lobby. Iruka glared at his back.

_What in the world am I doing..._Iruka thought to himself as he followed Kakashi out the building and into a small cafe down the street. It finally stopped raining and Iruka could smell the coffee and sweets drifting out into the streets. Iruka sometimes dropped by in the morning before he headed off to work if he needed some caffeine.

Iruka thought there was an awkward silence as they sat down in a booth, but Kakashi seemed completely comfortable. Iruka could feel his gaze fixated on him, so he chose to stare at the menu as they waited for a waitress, and even after ordering he looked down, to the side, out the window—anywhere but across from his seat.

"So, can I count this as a date?"

The question made Iruka choke on his spit. He coughed and felt his face heat up as he glared at Kakashi.

"Now that I have your attention," Kakashi continued on when Iruka finally looked at him. "do you have an answer for me yet?"

Iruka nodded at the waitress who brought him his coffee and took a slow sip. He watched Kakashi out of the corner of his eye as his own drink was brought, wondering if the man was going to go through some sort of process to avoid taking off his mask.

He was slightly disappointed to find that Kakashi simply pulled down the fabric and took a sip.

"You dragged me out of work just to ask if I want to date you?"

Kakashi licked foam off his lips and pulled his mask back up, an action that seemed a little too provocative for Iruka _not_ to notice.

"Is there a problem?"

Iruka returned to glaring at Kakashi, who simply sat there with his cheery grin and infuriating arrogance. Nevertheless, Iruka tried to remain polite.

"I don't have many years under my belt yet, Kakashi-san, and I don't want to jeopardize either of our careers—­"

"Are you trying to let me down?"

Iruka was slightly irked that he kept being interrupted, but Kakashi's everlasting grin evenly met and broke his focus. "Why do you think I'd even want to date men in general?" He asked, slightly exasperated.

"Well," Kakashi absentmindedly scratched his chin with long, pale fingers usually covered with gloves, "you didn't turn me down right when I asked you, and you didn't indicate disgust. I concluded you weren't entirely adverse to the idea."

Iruka didn't know many people who could incorporate science in everyday conversation and make it sound completely normal. He sighed and took another sip of his coffee.

"Besides," Kakashi continued, his voice low, "I can tell you stare at my butt sometimes."

Iruka promptly choked again.

-----

The rain finally stopped and the humidity dissipated, leaving a chilly breeze in its wake. Naruto stood outside on the balcony, unmindful of the wet bars he was resting his elbows on. He took a deep breath as the wind picked up and ruffled his hair. The sun was blocked by clouds and struggling to break through; it felt like nighttime but a quick peek at the clock inside told Naruto it was still mid-afternoon.

Sasuke stepped behind him, quietly slipping his arms around Naruto and holding him in a loose embrace. It was a little surprising; Naruto couldn't remember the last time Sasuke was this gentle outside of sex. He couldn't complain though; it _was_ a little chilly and Sasuke was fairly warm.

Neither said much; Sasuke's arms retreated after a few moments, and Naruto tried very hard not to be disappointed. It was times like these, in the stillness of the afternoon or wrapped in the chilly air of autumn that Naruto's thoughts twisted and turned until he thought he was turning into a woman. Most times a simple jab to the ribs or a nod with a smirk was enough to placate his desire for Sasuke to _say _something that to Naruto, held meaning in their kinda-sorta relationship. Perhaps he wanted Sasuke to say the infamously sugar-coated "L-word," but it's not like Naruto said it much either. His admission after their early-morning romp was the first time Naruto said it in quite a while. Sasuke barely ever said it at all. He just responded with an unreadable gaze and a gentle kiss or touch. At first, it was enough for Naruto, to be embraced in such a way and to feel warm in Sasuke's arms. Now, however, as years pass in the blink of an eye and the same routine is done and redone, Naruto wondered if Sasuke had enough. If Naruto wasn't enough anymore.

Or even, if Sasuke was no longer enough for Naruto.

"Hey."

Once again, Naruto thought that voice was made for candlelights and silk sheets. The deep timbre resonated in his ear and sent a shiver down his spine that had nothing to do with the wind. Perhaps he just wanted Sasuke in a physical way now. The thought, if Naruto allowed himself to dwell, was saddening.

"Talk to me."

The quiet request was confusing. A cold hand bumped into his own. Naruto noticed Sasuke wasn't looking at him.

A sigh at Naruto's silence. "About what's bothering you."

Naruto removed his arms from the handlebars—away from Sasuke's hand—and let them hang limply at his sides. The other man stood unmoving, even as Naruto stepped away from the bars.

"Sasuke," Naruto's head dipped down, his eyes tracing imaginary patterns on the stone floor. The other turned around and faced him. "what's your dream?" There was a moment of silence in which Naruto averted his eyes from a thoughtful stare. Sasuke was about to respond when the blond pressed their lips together, closing his eyes and blocking out the slightly confused gaze of the other. They kissed and shared light nips until Naruto hoped Sasuke forgot his question.

In all honesty, he was afraid that Sasuke's answer had nothing to do with one Uzumaki Naruto.

-----

Iruka's mind was muddled and still confused concerning Kakashi's advances. The other man made it seem like a joke, but Iruka couldn't read him, so there was nothing but doubt plaguing his mind. If Kakashi was serious—and that wasn't to say Iruka wanted him to be—why Iruka? They worked together and yes, Iruka had stayed by his side the entire two months and one day he was in a coma, but Iruka instinctively did it out of some inherent duty to the other man. After all, Iruka was the one who caused him to be in a coma in the first place.

But if he accepted Kakashi's advances, would that be out of his guilt? Or could Kakashi be playing some game to get back at him? Iruka didn't sense any malice or anger from him, but he didn't know Kakashi well enough to determine if he was the silently-pissed-off kind of person or the throwing-furniture-pissed-off kind of person. He sighed. All he could do was put Kakashi off a little longer and get back to work.

Which was why he was standing in front of the apartment complex once again.

Iruka kicked at a rock in the road as he stared up at the second floor. He wasn't sure what to do; he'd gone straight from the cafe shop so Kiba wasn't following him around, yet Iruka didn't quite know what he was there for. There was no more evidence to collect, and if he questioned about the missing picture one of them could just hide it again before Iruka got through the door. Technically, it was no longer a crime scene and he couldn't barge in there anymore.

Maybe he could talk to Uzumaki; he'd been dealing with the brunette this entire time and was getting no where. So maybe he could work the case from a different angle. He was mostly curious about that flare of red...whatever it was...that enveloped him when he—fell? Was pushed? Jumped?­—off the roof.

Iruka made it up the stairs and without so much as a pause to collect himself, rung the doorbell and waited. _What the hell am I doing..._he found himself asking for the second time that day.

The brunette answered the door.

_Damnit_.

"Good afternoon, Uchiha-san," Iruka bowed slightly, his mouth forming a small, strained smile under the impassive face. "I was wondering if Uzumaki-san was available for a word."

A blond head peeked around the corner of the kitchen. Blue eyes widened and blinked. Uchiha still stood in the doorway, steadily wearing Iruka out under his unflinching, cold eyes.

"Oi, Sasuke," Uzumaki stepped into the doorway, "let's just hear what he has to say."

Iruka was surprised that the male seemed so willing; after all, he'd barged in earlier that morning and sent him to a psychiatrist. Now, all traces of his anger were gone, probably now within the glaring brunette.

"Actually, how 'bout we go for some ramen? I know a great place down the street."

Iruka blurted it out without even thinking about it; it seemed like a good idea. He remembered seeing ramen cups in the trash earlier, and if he guessed right, Uzumaki was the one out of the two who loved the stuff. However, seeing both the male's expressions was enough for Iruka to doubt his decision for going there. Both had similar looks of disbelief, especially those wide blue eyes.

"Um...actually, I really could go for some ramen right now." Uzumaki seemed a bit hesitant, but nevertheless grabbed his jacket and wallet. Uchiha was still staring at Iruka, unblinking and measuring him like he was on display. Iruka felt cold under his powerful gaze and was glad the brunette made no move to follow them. He saw a myriad of different threats passing the dark eyes, and for the first time in his presence, Iruka thought he could've easily been killed by the man.

A mop of blond hair stepped in between them and Iruka held in his sigh of relief. After a quick "I'll be back later" from Uzumaki, the door was closed and Iruka could finally breathe again.

-----

The walk to the restaurant was slightly uncomfortable for Naruto, as the moment of invitation replayed itself over and over in his mind. It was like past and present meshing together until Naruto's head hurt, and only by looking at Sasuke did he remember where he was and why they were there. It was funny that Sasuke was the source of his stability and doubt—funny in a humorless sort of way.

"Well, here it is." Iruka gestured toward the small restaurant crammed between a gas station and a towering convenience store. Iruka pushed open the door and stepped in.

Naruto inwardly groaned and rubbed his blossoming headache. _Ichiraku Ramen_.

---

The only thing Naruto could be grateful for was the fact that no one else he might've known popped up. Ayame-chan didn't work there and the old man who was now but a fuzzy shadow in Naruto's memory wasn't making the noodles. Even the ramen he was hesitantly biting into wasn't as he remembered it.

He could feel Iruka's gaze on him throughout the entire meal, but every time he looked up, the other man would close his mouth, as if just losing the nerve to say something. Naruto sighed. He hated awkward silences, but wasn't sure how to fill them.

Well, he _used_ to know how.

"So...Umino-san, right?" Naruto began, slurping down more noodles and broth.

Iruka made a face. "No one really calls me that," he chuckled, and the tense atmosphere seemed to break a little bit. Naruto smiled softly in remembrance. "You can call me Iruka if you want."

Naruto felt his headache grow while warmth spread through his chest. He knew he shouldn't be falling into nostalgia or digging through memories better off tucked away, but he couldn't help the scene unfolding before him. He knew Iruka was just trying to gain a little bit of trust, but at the moment, Naruto didn't really care.

"Iruka-sensei(1) then." Naruto grinned, slurping down the rest of his noodles. The tense atmosphere completely parted, replaced now by the comfortable bustle of the busy restaurant and the loud chattering of munching patrons. Iruka nodded with a chuckle. "You can call me Naruto."

Iruka appeared to contemplate for a moment, scratching his chin with the edge of his chopsticks. He chuckled again. "I could swear I've heard your name before, but maybe I'm just thinking about ramen too much(2) ." Both of them laughed.

Naruto couldn't remember the last time he'd had ramen that tasted anything remotely to what he used to eat at Ichiraku's. Maybe it was the name of the restaurant, the warm atmosphere, or even Iruka himself, but for a moment, Naruto laughed with abandon and with a slightly lighter heart. He could feel his indecision melting away, evaporating and drifting like the steam emanating from the broth in his bowl.

For a moment, he forgot.

"I bet if Kiba was here, we'd make one hell of a noisy group." Naruto snickered, but his laughter was cut short as Iruka's sudden stillness. Naruto raised his eyebrow and was about to ask if something was wrong with the noodles when his mind finally caught up with his mouth. He froze.

Iruka narrowed his eyes. "Naruto...I never mentioned Kiba's name before..."

End Chapter 4

Author's Note:

(1) In Japan, when encountering someone like a detective or lawyer, etc., they're addressed as somewhat of a teacher.

(2) Naruto = fishcake. I'm sure we all know that.

Critiques/reviews would be helpful~


	5. Evidence Part I

Summary: Naruto has always wondered what would happen to Kyuubi when his body finally gives out. Now, a thousand years later, he's still wondering. SasuNaruSasu

A/N: It's just occurred to me that I've been grammatically incorrect. No wonder my summary sounded weird. Still kinda sounds weird. Meh.  
By the way, I think I should give a shoutout to Redfoxmoon. I'm glad you're taking the time to point out things in my story and giving your own opinions. You're perceptive and sharp. I'll leave it at that for now ;]

Title: Samsara Broken  
Author: curtainsfall

Chapter 05—Evidence [Part I]

Iruka narrowed his eyes. "Naruto...I never mentioned Kiba's name before..."

Naruto could see the gears turning his Iruka's head, calculating every single breath that passed the blond's lips. He could feel his heart beating in his stomach. Naruto kept his breathing in check; not too fast like he was panicking, but not too slow that he was thinking of an excuse.

Everything passed in the blink of an eye. The noodles suspended in Naruto's chopsticks made their way to his mouth as he expertly lifted a pale brow.

"Eh?," he made a sound of confusion while looking thoughtful. "I was talking about it with Sasuke...how that Kiba guy—the one who smells like a pack of dogs, right?—was in his face at the station while I was with Haruno-sensei." Naruto's lips curled slightly at _just_ the right moment as he appeared to be recalling a distant memory. "Sasuke said Kiba's a lot like me—rash and completely annoying." Naruto chuckled and met Iruka's eyes, ending his explanation.

A long moment passed in which Naruto had horrifying images of being shot at in a ramen restaurant and needing to somehow explain to the dozen or so customers (plus Iruka) as to why he could move faster than hot lead. Another scenario presented himself in somehow blurting—and effectively blowing—his web of lies and pouring out all his secrets to the man across from him. That, of course, would end in Sasuke trying to kill him—which would serve as the greater difficulty since Sasuke's a lot faster than a few bullets and they'd end up destroying half the city. Neither scenario sounded particularly appealing.

Slowly, Iruka seemed to reach some kind of conclusion in his head, although traces of suspicion continued to linger on his young face. "Sorry...it's been a long day." He laughed good-humoredly, once again digging into his steaming bowl. Naruto resumed eating, although with a little less gusto than before.

"However..."

Naruto looked up again curiously, even though he could guess what was coming next.

Iruka's voice dropped to barely a murmur, completely out of place for the demeanor Naruto remembered. "...I would really appreciate you and Sasuke giving me some answers soon. This case is far from solved."

Naruto took the underlying threat in with ease and sent a beaming grin in return.

---

"So how'd it go?"

Naruto heard the question before he was able to toe off his shoes. He looked up from his task of unlacing, meeting a tense Sasuke sitting at the table. It was a traditional, low table, and with the weather, the heavy blanket provided a warm haven for their feet. Without real chairs or anything, Naruto wondered how Sasuke could sit up so straight.

He gave a noncommittal shrug to the question and sat across from Sasuke at the table, tucking his feet underneath. He made sure not to come in contact with the pale legs already there. Sasuke had probably just finished with dinner; there was a lingering smell of miso in the air and a cup of tea was held between gracefully long fingers. The intense gaze turned into one of irritation.

"Are you just going to sit there or are you going to dry off?"

The question took Naruto by surprise, and he was about to ask what the _hell _was with that tone when he realized that water droplets falling from his hair were falling into his eyes. As if in a trance, Naruto slowly brought a hand up to run his fingers through his hair. They came away wet.

"I guess I didn't realize it was raining..." Naruto's voice sounded distant, tinged with slight surprise.

Caught up in his thoughts, Naruto supposed he couldn't really pay attention to the rain as he and Iruka parted ways after their dinner. Sasuke's slightly puzzled, mostly annoyed expression met Naruto's blank stare.

"Did something happen?"

Naruto wanted to immediately answer with a "no," but Sasuke's dark, scrutinizing eyes were focused completely on him, tea forgotten and cooling on the table. The intense gaze was unblinking and unnerving.

"I slipped up, but I covered it up. Iruka-sensei doesn't suspect anything." Naruto wished he had a cup of his own to fiddle with as he looked away from Sasuke's powerful gaze. For the first time since Naruto could barely remember, he felt awkward in the Uchiha's presence.

Naruto heard a tired sigh and looked up to find Sasuke's gaze (finally) focused on something else. Currently he was looking outside, gathering his thoughts and perhaps getting ready to lecture Naruto. For some reason that thought irked him; if Sasuke opened that mouth of his for some patronizing, condescending bullshit he was gonna walk out of there—

"You called him 'Iruka-sensei'." Was the simple statement. Sasuke turned and looked straight back into Naruto's eyes.

A moment of confusion for Naruto followed. "So...?"

Sasuke sighed again and rubbed the bridge of his nose. It wasn't condescending, which was the only reason that kept Naruto in his seat. "You're thinking about him as if he's still your teacher—your father figure."

Naruto wasn't sure how to respond to that, seeing as how it was true. He would never be able to look at Iruka and see a stranger; the face, the personality, even the chakra were so familiar. The memories that had been turning into fuzzy photographs were becoming sharper, and served to make him feel much more alive than he had in years. He didn't want to lose that feeling.

One look into Sasuke's face told him that feeling would kill them both. That intense, unblinking stare only served to deepen Naruto's desire to hold on to his precious people rather than give them up. He couldn't do that...not again.

"I won't avoid him." Naruto's eyes narrowed defiantly, straightening his posture and facing Sasuke head-on.

"We can't afford to have him find out, Naruto." Sasuke immediately responded as if knowing exactly what Naruto was going to say. "He's not stupid, and if Kakashi is helping him, they'll figure it out. There's no doubt in my mind."

"Then maybe it's not such a bad thing that they find out!" Naruto's hand formed a fist in his lap, knowing that he could well be stirring up trouble for the sake of starting shit. However, even if he was one for impulsive (and _sometimes_ stupid) words, he knew that his instincts were never wrong.

Sasuke's silence met his exclamation, stretching on as the two glared at each other. When Sasuke spoke, his voice was icy and practically snarled out of his throat.

"Is that what you want? For them to find out? To put _our_ lives in danger?"

Naruto looked away, his shoulders shaking with the suppressed desire to destroy something. His voice was barely above a growled whisper.

"I'm so fucking sick of worrying aboutour_ lives_ and sticking to some plan because _you_ think it's _best_." Naruto knew things were getting dangerous; he could feel both their chakras flaring unchecked and nipping at the other like flames. He knew one of them would end up saying something stupid, and it'd probably be him.

"Well forgive me if I think secrecy will prevent our next living arrangements to be cages in some godforsaken laboratory." Sasuke snarled, "I didn't hear a better plan from you."

"Look around, Sasuke—we might as well _be_ in cages." Naruto's hand was beginning to feel numb as his finger nails dug into the firm flesh of his palm. "What's the point of living if all we're doing is hiding? Why can't we take advantage of this opportunity; it's like a second chance for us!" He pounded his fist on the table, refusing to acknowledge that his voice was bordering on pleading.

Silence met his query for a moment, Sasuke's eyes unwavering.

"Idiot, you think this is _your _second chance. They died a long time ago, and these people are _not who you think they are._" Sasuke's voice cut straight through any and all hope Naruto had. "The Umino Iruka we both knew is _dead—"_

Naruto threw the punch before he realized he got up from his seat. Both his knees were on either side of Sasuke's hips, hands clutching the T-shirt and bringing the face that held the audacity to tell Naruto what and what not to think, controlling his every move—and the only source of stability for Naruto's life—closer so that he could stare into those bottomless pits full of turbulent hell. Sasuke was the only thing that was constant, yet the only thing that Naruto wanted to hate with a passion enough to regret ever wanting him as much as he did. He could feel his fingernails elongate and canines digging into his lips. His eyes were probably flickering between blue and blood.

There was a blooming bruise on Sasuke's cheek, but the man stared back impassively at Naruto's angry glare. "Why can't you just let me have this one thing!" Naruto nearly screamed, hands trembling with the desire to shake, punch, pull—anything to make Sasuke understand. His chakra was nearly enveloping the entire room with its ferocity, while Sasuke's was no longer overpowering, but was still intensely surrounding him.

Sasuke's hand rose to settle over Naruto's, and with a spurt of that intense chakra, shoved the blonde off of him and into the table, the wooden legs buckling and giving way. The sound of splintering echoed throughout the apartment, ringing in Naruto's ears. His head snapped back and for a moment, he saw stars exploding behind his eyelids. He wondered when his reaction time had slowed that much that he couldn't have even braced himself for the fall.

As the ringing subsided and the moment of pain began disappearing as chakra flowed through his body, he felt himself slumping in defeat. He couldn't win against Sasuke's logic, but he was resolved to not follow it. He didn't know what he wanted, but it sure as hell wasn't staying away from the people he cared about. Naruto looked up, ready to continue their fight if need be, but an empty room met his glare.

Sasuke was gone.

-----

_Kick. Punch. Sweep._

The mantra was more consistent with muscle memory than anything Sasuke was really thinking about. All he could see were the insides of his eyelids and smell the soupy mud collecting in his shoes as he ran and flew across the miry field. He was barely a mile from the apartment; it was the only park in the area, and being that it was late in the evening and and rain was falling in fine mists, he was alone.

It seemed like he was always alone.

Another ferocious punch met that thought, and an angry kick sent mud flying in all directions. Sasuke could feel a _chidori_ ready to form in his fist, but with only the monkey bars to meet his challenge, he soon gave up on the notion of carrying out his threat. He could feel the Sharingan spinning although he couldn't see anything, opting rather to fight blindly and simply vent his frustrations and shake off the deepening sense of self-pity.

It wasn't as if he _couldn't_ understand what Naruto wanted in this situation—despite the insults that Naruto hurled at him, he wasn't emotionally oblivious; he simply chose to use logic rather than the fickle organ that was the human heart. It wasn't as if Sasuke _wanted_ to keep Naruto from something that would obviously bring some of that light back into his eyes—in any other situation Sasuke would probably even encourage Naruto to pursue his fantasy-turned-second-chance.

However, it wasn't as if Sasuke _had a choice_.

What Sasuke _couldn't _understand was why Naruto always made him out to be the villain of his melodramatic _bullshit_ when all he wanted was to keep them both alive and out of some underground lab in the middle of nowhere with hands prodding them and their new home being that of a test tube. Sasuke _wanted_ for Naruto to realize how selfish he was being and that Sasuke wasn't exactly happy about the arrangements either; in any other time and place, he'd support (in his own, silent way) Naruto's need to cartwheel his way into mayhem.

But not _this _time or place.

The rain fell like a light blanket that was growing in size on his shoulders, adding to the burden on stiff muscles. His movements were erratic and he was panting, arms aching and feet being sucked in to the mud. Sasuke could hear the air rushing in and out of his lungs, rain water stinging his eyes and the salty drops providing little relief for his parched lips.

He was considering a short rest when Kakashi's presence made his hairs stand on end.

Sasuke reeled around, Sharingan spinning and focusing on the blurry figure in the distance, right at the edge of the entrance to the park. Kakashi's hair was weighted with the water soaking in, obscuring nearly half his face, but he stood unmoving in his spot, hands in his pockets with an unmistakable sense of ease as he stared at Sasuke.

With a lone Sharingan.

Sasuke could literally feel the chakra flowing from Kakashi, and although he doubted the man knew how to control that power, there was no doubt as to that power being very much present. He stood, seemingly relaxed (in a creepy, unmoving sort of way), but Sasuke could see how the lone eye squinted as the _kekkei genkai_ sucked that chakra right back in. Sasuke couldn't see if it was as fully developed as he remembered it being, but he could see the toll it was placing on the stranger.

Slowly, Sasuke allowed his eyes to fade to their dark color. Kakashi was now but a shadow that could have easily been mistaken for a tree in the distance, but Sasuke could still _feel_ the man's desire to keep his exhaustion at bay as the Sharingan continued to focus on him. Sasuke walked forward with deliberate steps, not bothering to acknowledge Kakashi as he passed and exited the park. He left, knowing and _feeling_ that the lone eye watched him go.

---

Iruka flicked the water droplets from his coat once more in vain before taking it off and hanging it on his chair. He plopped down and sighed, burying his face in his hands and rubbing his tired eyes with the heels as the graveyard shift dragged their heels on the thin carpet. A few murmured their greetings while most were silent at their desks.

Something about that dinner bothered Iruka, but he just couldn't figure out what. Naruto seemed honest enough—not at all like he was the victim of an attempted murder, but at the same time, he was definitely hiding something.

He sighed and leaned back in his seat, waiting for his computer to warm up and briefly considering making a pot of coffee for the night's work ahead.

The shrill ring of his desk phone cut through his thoughts, and though Iruka would never admit that the sudden sound startled him, he was contemplating whether or not to actually answer the call. He was technically no longer working for the day, but no one else seemed inclined to answer the phone for him. Iruka sighed.

"Nishiazabu Police—"

"Kakashi-san collapsed!" The frantic, breathless sound of Antonio's voice screeched over the phone. Iruka's trachea suddenly closed on him, preventing any more air from getting into his lungs.

"Wh-what?"

"He just collapsed after getting in the door!" The intern screeched again, obviously panicked and unsure of what to do. "I-I called for an ambulance, but I—"

"Just stay there!" Iruka yelled into the phone and without waiting for an answer, slammed it back into its receiver and rushed out the door, ignoring any and all questions of concern.

The elevator ride was much too long. Iruka was counting his heart beats as they reverberated in his throat (that was still conveniently closed off and making him feel incredibly light-headed) as he had no other means to try and calm himself down. He couldn't sort any of the thoughts flitting through his mind yet was acutely aware of each and every one.

_Is Kakashi all right?_

_Is he in a coma again?_

_Is it my fault?_

The last thought was illogical, as Iruka hadn't been near Kakashi since the afternoon—or was it evening? Iruka felt like he was floating in a timeless space, as if anything he saw and felt was just a part of some script he was detached from. As if he was watching a movie through his own eyes. His fingers were numb, but he realized it was because of his grip on the elevator's hand bars. He sighed and tried to reel himself in.

All Iruka could do was figure out what happened and get Kakashi to safety, wherever the hell that was. Not to mention getting back on top of his investigation. He'd been neglecting his work and the more he was distracted from it the greater amount of evidence was slipping away through that blonde, mysterious head and those cool, dark eyes.

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Iruka steeled himself with determination and gathered every shred of courage he had left and schooled his expression to that of cool indifference but professional concern. Even though his heart was still pounding and white-water rafting in his bloodstream, he knew that it was time to grow up and do his job.

It was time to _do his job_.

End Chapter 5


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